The Cat Eye: Part 1
by TheLucky666
Summary: The first part of ridiculously long 'Cat Eye' yet-to-be series. It focuses on how Ichigo and Grimmjow got to being able to exist next to each other without killing each other. Shounen-ai/Yaoi, slightly AU
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Bleach or anything else associated with it. Luckily! Because, if I did, it probably wouldn't be as amazing as it is. :P

Yeah, I know what you may be thinking... The nerve of me! Starting a new story without even developing the other! Well, yes. This asked to be out of the system, so I gave it what it wanted... And, may I just point out that the second chapter of 'Pensieve' is REALLY difficult for me? OK, not that you care about Harry Potter...

Anyway, this is bound to be a HUGE series. It kind of nested in my brain that way, so you'll have to bear with me. (Also, forgive me for all grammar mistakes, please!)

Other things about the series? Well, I'm not spoiling. :P

I hope you'll be able to look past my faulty imagination and style that seems to be unnatural and stuck somewhere in the age of Shakespeare (love him!), and STILL be able to enjoy this thing, without any major misunderstandings/confusions/mindfu- you know! If you have any dilemmas or confusions about the story, feel free to ask! I'll answer, as long as the answer's not a spoiler. :P

Read the label! This is what expects you (hopefully)!

* * *

**THE CAT EYE: PART 1**

**Description:** The first part of ridiculously long 'Cat Eye' (yet-to-be) series. It focuses on how Ichigo and Grimmjow got to being able to exist next to each other without killing each other.

**Pairing:** GrimmIchi

**Warnings:** slightly AU, slightly OOC (It's unavoidable, since we all have our interpretations of characters), (maybe) slightly cheesy, fluff, slightly crack, possible mindf*, and probably definitely absurd at some points... I love absurd (life IS absurd, itself), so sometimes it's better if you turn off your logic. (I'm not as crazy as I sound. Don't expect to be confused.)

**Genres:** Romance, Comedy, Mystery, Horror, Drama, Absurd(?), Parody(?)

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CHAPTER 1: Three Times a Meeting

#1:

The usual tension. The kind a runner feels while waiting for the shot that signalizes the start of the race.

That's what Kurosaki Ichigo felt that day exactly one minute before the bell rang for the school to end. He caught himself slightly hovering above his chair, waiting to jump up and sprint out of the classroom.

For no reason in particular, actually. It's just that his behind started hurting no matter how he sat. The usual illness of every high-schooler, that is. Especially the ones that were spending their school time in other places than classroom. Game parlours, bars, parks, hospitals. Other worlds.

However, question remains, if Ichigo knew what would happen in the following months, would he be so fast in saying his bye-byes to his friends?

The weather in Karakura that day was very nice. It was sunny and warm, but a cool, pleasant wind was blowing. The air was fresh, and the entire town felt filled with oxygen.

Ichigo was breathing deeply. He felt at ease (somehow it seemed strange to him), and he prayed that there won't be a single stupid Hollow bent on taking a walk above the park at that very moment.

He slowed down a bit near a convenience store. The scenery around there was much nicer and greener, so walking was a really pleasant thing to do. And he was thinking if he should treat himself to some cup ramen, because Yuzu went to her friend's house and won't be making lunch today.

One woman dressed in a usual manner of an office lady cut off Ichigo's path (and his train of thought) and entered the store. At the entrance, an old man, small like a child and dressed in kimono passed by the office lady out to the streets.

At that moment, Ichigo heard the unmistakable sound of things dropping on the ground. The old man's plastic bag ripped and spilled out all of it's contents.

Shifting his bag off his shoulder, Ichigo approached the little old man:

„Here. Let me help you with that, Gramps."

The old man looked him straight in the eyes, smiled sweetly and said:

„Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo stopped in his tracks, and stared at the old man:

„How do you-?"

A truck passed by loudly and startled Ichigo. He stared after it, cursing inwardly.

When he turned around, the little old man was gone.

#2:

The next time Ichigo saw the old man, he had already forgotten all about him.

Rukia came to him a few nights ago, telling him that somebody broke into the Department of Research and Development and apparently stole something important. Orders from Yamamoto Genryusai were to stay alert and report anything out of the ordinary.

Ichigo was so focused on thinking about that task, that he completely forgot everything about the little man.

The next time he saw him was also on a sunny day.

It was Sunday, and although the heat was becoming slightly unbearable, he chose to spend his day outside with Karin and Yuzu. They did some shopping (Yuzu bought a sweet pink skirt, and Karin bought a pair of trainers, although she would very much preferred the red bicycle they saw, which, sadly, exceeded their budget by far), and now they were heading towards the park.

Ichigo, wiping the sweat off his brow with his sleeve, was looking forward to eating his ice cream in the shadow of a tree. While his thoughts fleeted across the recent events in Seiretei, something caught his eye.

It was that same little old man. He was sitting on a bench, smiling gently at a street cat eating a can of cat food.

Then the little man raised his head, and his eyes met Ichigo's. His smile grew wider, and Ichigo's frown deepened.

„Ichi-nii, your ice cream is melting." – Karin said passing him a tissue.

He broke out of his trance and busied himself with the ice cream and the paper tissue.

When he raised his head, this time he wasn't surprised to find the old man gone. Again.

He frowned thinking whether he should tell Rukia about his encounter with the mysterious grandpa.

#3:

New information from Seireitei. The artifact that was stolen from the Department is a sort of Reishi manipulating device. It pretty much enables it's user to control the amount of Reiatsu radiating from anybody in a certain radius from the device. The Head Commander called in an emergency Captain's meeting. Kurotsuchi-taichou was furious. Rukia later told Ichigo and his friends that the four of them were instructed to keep a strict watch over Karakura. They will receive assistance of Urahara, Yoruichi, Renji and herself. If need be, a special team consisting of Hitsugaya Toushirou, Matsumoto Rangiku, Madarame Ikkaku and Ayasegawa Yumichika will be sent as back-up.

Everything out of the ordinary is to be reported immediately.

And yet, Kurosaki Ichigo never mentioned the old man to anybody. Somehow he knew that the old man is not something he should discard as not being important. But, something told him, a little voice in his head, that never mentioning the old man is actually a right thing to do. Anyway, Kurosaki Ichigo could not forget about him, even for a moment...

That day, it seemed as the sky broke down. It was raining heavily. Just an umbrella couldn't protect you from getting wet. Heck, it looked like you'd be equally drenched no matter if you had one.

And Ichigo was going back home after school. He had an umbrella. But, it couldn't shield him from his worries.

But, there was a person standing at the entrance to the convenience store that had no umbrella. Yes, it was the little old man.

When Ichigo saw him, for some reason he felt hope rise inside his gut. There was his chance to (maybe) find out something more about this case! He rushed to the spot where the man was standing, and yelled through the loud rain:

„What's wrong, Gramps? Don't have an umbrella? Here! I can walk you to your house, if you wish!"

The little old man gave Ichigo a wide, warm smile, and gladly accepted his offer.

Ichigo actually found himself wishing he simply passed by the old man without even glancing at him, let alone offering something stupid as to walk him home.

Because, it turned out the man was a sort of a monk who lived in a temple dedicated to some cat deity (Ichigo wasn't paying attention to that part, so he didn't hear it exactly). The catch was – it was all outside Karakura. Normally, it would probably take a few hours on foot to reach the Town from there, but as it was raining Ichigo could swear he wasted his entire afternoon on this quest. Not to mention the roads (if they can be called that) got him all covered in mud up to his waist (exaggeration). So, when they finally arrived, he was dirty, sweaty, wet, tired and pissed off. And he found himself weirdly admiring the old man, who seemed to be absolutely fine with everything from the above.

The old man („Nekozawa Yamato" -, he introduced himself.) was kind enough to invite Ichigo in for the tea.

Ichigo then found himself listening to quite a long lesson on the history of that temple, and what-not-more. He actually wasn't paying attention. He was too tired, and in desperate need of a warm bath and a set of clean cloathes. The tea did help a bit. And the view he had through the open slide doors on the great portions of lake water (and a patio smack in the middle of it all), did wonders to his foul mood. He did catch something about the temple being almost forgotten, as well as something about important scrolls being kept deep inside the building.

But, what alerted his attention was the sudden silence at the opposite corner.

Nekozawa was gripping his cup with both his hands tightly, staring at it. It seemed as he wanted to say something.

After some time he spoke:

„Can I ask a favor from you, Substitute Shinigami-san?"

Ichigo's frown deepened, his fingers ready to snatch the Substitute Badge hanging off his belt, and retorted with a question:

„I was wondering about it for a while. How did you know my name? And how do you know that I'm a shinigami?"

Nekozawa smiled mysteriously and eyed the Substitute Badge.

„That's not hard to tell."

Silence fell upon them. The rain had stopped. Ichigo was staring intently at Nekozawa as if trying to read his mind. Nekozawa smiled nervously at Ichigo and returned to looking at his cup. He feared Ichigo wouldn't want to listen to him.

„About that favor..." – he started, and his words drowned in silence. At that moment, speaking seemed unnatural, and every sound that could be heard seemed loud and ruff.

„What is it?" – asked Ichigo, surprised at how soft his words came out of his mouth.

Nekozawa raised his eyes to look at Ichigo. He breathed in, and started, obviously encouraged by the softness in Ichigo's voice:

„Well... I'm not exactly sure is there a good way to ask you this, seeing as you will probably refuse to offer your help..."

„Well, you won't know that if you don't ask me." – interrupted Ichigo, frowning at the polite way of speaking Nekozawa used in his last sentence.

Nekozawa nodded lightly, and continued a bit uncertainly with a bit of stuttering:

„Well... Well, let's say that I've, in a last few weeks, been sort of taking care of... let's say... a cat?"

Ichigo raised his eyebrows, and interrupted yet again:

„A cat? You want me to help you take care of a cat?"

Nekozawa smiled gently at Ichigo, and added:

„It's a spirit."

„Ah! I see! It's a spirit." –Ichigo nodded lightly, and then frowned: -„I don't get it. Why would you need my help to take care of a cat even if it's a spirit?"

„Well, it's not exactly a house cat..." –added Nekozawa.

They both fell silent, nodding lightly to no one in particular. Nekozawa's fear of not getting Ichigo's help probably found him once more, because he started anew, in a convincing tone:

„You know, he really seems rough at first. But, (I believe) he's really nice when you meet him. He's..."

„It's alright, Gramps." – Ichigo smiled at him, interrupting him once more: „I don't see why shouldn't I help you."

Nekozawa sighed and smiled at Ichigo. They sat there smiling at each other for a bit. Then Nekozawa leaned in a bit conspiraciously and said in a low voice:

„Maybe I should warn you. He's quite a bit aggressive."

Ichigo opened his mouth to reassure Nekozawa that everything will be alright, and ended up frowning a bit deeper after every next word Nekozawa Yamato said:

„And territorial. And blood-thirsty. And sadistic. And destructive..."

Then he quickly added after seeing Ichigo's face:

„B-But! If you know how to handle him, it'll be alright! Trust me, Kurosaki-san! You'll know how to handle him! I'll help you!"

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted with a deep, loud drawl and a banging sound of the rough opening of the slide-doors.

„Oi, Old Man! Where d'ya keep towels?"

A sudden flash of blue came into Ichigo's sight as terror and mortification washed over him. He inwardly cursed the star under which he was born, that led him into making stupid, stupid, stupid promises.

There was the damned 'cat spirit' in question!

In front of him, stood Grimmjow Jaegerjaques in all of his naked glory.

* * *

I know you saw that coming! I'm not trying to surprise you... :P

Well, I hope you (mostly) enjoyed this. Reviews are appreciated very much! You may be sure that I'll read and reply to it... As long it's not rude.

And, yes... 'Conspiraciously'... I almost definitely invented that word. It pretty much means something like 'in a plotting manner; conspiracy-like'. :P Grammar Nazis! Please, forgive me!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Bleach or anything that's associated with it nor do I earn money from writing this thing.

Phew~! School's finally over, and therefore I present you with the new chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it...

Also, I want to thank everybody who reviewed this/added this to their alert list. You made my heart expand with happiness. So much, in fact, that I'm sending a lot of good karma your way. ;)

I hope this one will be even more pleasing than the one before. This one is not exactly checked, so if you come across some minor or grand mistakes, don't sue me. I'm spacing out awfully lot these days.

Also, I'll take some more of your reading time to explain some possibly unknown terms... I'll list them all at the end of the story, and in the story, mark them with an asterisk...

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CHAPTER 2: Just peachy

In that very moment, Ichigo wanted to disappear from the face of the Earth. In the next moment, however, his fist was gripping tightly around the Substitute Badge, and he was ready to jump into action on the first sign of attack. He was frowning at Grimmjow (somewhere in the back of his mind, a stupid thought about Grimmjow's body popped up, but it didn't last long enough to be important), but he honestly didn't know how to actually react in this situation. Was he supposed to say something?

Nekozawa seemed to be in the same boat. He sat in a way he seemed even smaller then usual, his head bowing down, and was nervously staring at the cup in his hands.

Grimmjow, on the other hand, went with the flow and simply looked at Ichigo, than spoke to Nekozawa:

„Oi, Old man! Are you deaf? I asked ya something."

Nekozawa shifted, got up warily, and started mumbling:

„Oh, yes. Yes... That was... Yes... Over here."

He walked slowly to the slide doors. Grimmjow stepped away to let the little man through. Then Nekozawa stopped and turned around to Ichigo.

„Excuse me for just a second, Kurosaki-san." – he said with a warm smile, and bowed down. He then went out of the room and Grimmjow followed suit.

When the slide doors closed, Ichigo stayed like he was for a second, and then breathed out. If somebody had asked him what had just happened, he would have said that he wasn't sure. He tried to think about it. Somehow it seemed he was now stuck babysitting one of his greatest enemies. That was the best he could conclude.

He looked down at the sakura* petal that was blown inside by the wind. It was gently floating on the surface of his tea. Grimmjow ignored him.

What was he supposed to think about that?

III

„OK. Here you are." – Nekozawa smiled politely while handing over some towels.

Grimmjow grabbed them roughly, wrapped one around his waist and took another one to dry himself off.

Nobody spoke.

They were in a place which Grimmjow used as his bedroom. It was a fairly big, dimly lit tatami* room. On the floor was one futon*, and next to it was Grimmjow's zanpakutou Panthera. Nekozawa eyed the used bandages that were scattered all over the futon, while sitting down on his knees.

„You..." –he started, smiling gently – „You're calm."

Grimmjow looked at him from under the towel.

„What? You expected me to throw a tantrum?" –he said, surprisingly calm. –„I'm not a brat."

Nekozawa nodded lightly and absent-mindedly, like he was thinking about something and then fell silent. The rustling of the towels was the only thing that could be heard.

„What are you still doing here?" – Grimmjow spat at him after a few moments.

Nekozawa broke out of his stupor and blurted out:

„Will you help me train Kurosaki-san?"

Grimmjow stared at Nekozawa in disbelief for one long second, and before he could get himself to explode with anger, Nekozawa spoke again, this time in his loud, convincing tone:

„I thought... Since you're not a brat..." – he emphasized 'not' and 'brat'- „Maybe you could help Ichigo train... There's some really bad things happening around lately... He'll need all the help he could get..." – He than continued in a softer tone: „And Ichigo's practically just a child... And I know, a boy like him... His father..."– he inhaled deeply- „He practically never had an older, more experienced man to learn from."

The room was filled with silence again. Nekozawa sat tightly, not daring to breathe. Grimmjow bit down his anger, and looked, frowning, at the little old man.

„Get out." – he growled, and Nekozawa hastily got on his feet, bowed down, and almost ran out of the room, nearly falling down in the process.

When he got out, Grimmjow stared after him for a while. He normally lets himself explode whenever he pleases (after all, that's very healthy!), but something, a thought, stopped him this time. Something that Nekozawa said. And how come he knows all that stuff? How come he knows so much about Ichigo? That's too suspicious...

Also, it's just plain stupid to deny the fact that 'older, more experienced man [than Ichigo]' part did wonders to Grimmjow's ego. Because it did. It fixed his mood considerably, and that's why it was so suspicious. You never trust people who flatter you. Especially, if you are an older, more experienced man [than Ichigo]...

This maybe could actually be a chance to return the debt...

III

'He accepted. Or at least, he didn't say 'no'. ' –thought Nekozawa after he calmed down from running away from Grimmjow. He was on his way back to Ichigo.

When he opened the sliding doors, he found Ichigo nearly lying down over the table, frowning.

„Sorry for the wait." – he said smiling gently, and Ichigo placed himself in a more appropriate sitting position.

Nekozawa sat down, and Ichigo looked at him questioningly. He wanted to ask something, but wasn't exactly sure what.

Nekozawa smiled at him again, and spoke:

„I see you noticed the lake."

Ichigo blinked.

„Ah... Yeah. Sure."

There was a pause, then Nekozawa spoke again:

„These temple grounds are quite vast, you know. I thought you may want to train here."

Ichigo yelled, surprised:

„Eh? Really? Is it really OK? ..." –he stopped in his tracks, confused- „Wait, a minute, why would I need to train anyway?"

Nekozawa lost his default smiling face.

„Hard problems are coming, Kurosaki-san. I thought you might want to be ready." – he said softly.

Ichigo's usual frown deepened. He paused before he spoke.

„Old man, how much exactly do you know?"

Nekozawa smiled his usual, warm smile, again.

„Enough." – he said. „Do you want more tea, Kurosaki-san?"

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but a weird grumbling noise interrupted him.

„Oh, my! How stupid of me!" – said Nekozawa getting up – „It completely slipped my mind that you might be hungry! Umm... Can you wait for me to cook something for you?"

„Ah. It's OK, I can wait." – said Ichigo – „Actually, if you don't mind, I kind of really need a shower..."

„Ah, yes! Of course! How stupid of me! I should have offered you that at the very beginning..." – Nekozawa was nearly panicking- „I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-san!"

„Ah, it's OK. No need to apologise." –said Ichigo.

„No! No! No!" –started Nekozawa- „I am really, really sorry. Umm... Please, drink some more tea, while I prepare your bath."

And with that Nekozawa was once again out of the room.

III

Ichigo was really looking forward to the bath. So much, in fact, that he nearly trampled over random portions of perfectly flat floor several times. Nearly. He also pushed away the thought about how every single thing that had happened that day was completely ridiculous and also a fine example of classic absurd.

To him, soaking every last aching fibre of his body, seemed as the most important thing in the World. For now.

Not to mention, the bath tub was enormous. It bore great resemblance to the ones seen in onsen* inns. Therefore, it was just perfect for relaxing and almost falling asleep.

'Yuzu will be mad at me for messing up my clothes.' – he thought as he undressed.

He tossed his underwear on the pile of dirty garments, and was just about to lose himself in the bath, when the mortifying sound of the slide-doors being roughly wide opened resonated in the bathroom.

Ichigo was so shocked he couldn't think. He could just stare, flushed like a rose of May, into the person standing on the doorstep.

Of course, it had to be nobody else but Grimmjow, simply because he made everything much more embarrassing for Ichigo. That is, starting as of this day.

And so, they stared at each other for about half a minute. Grimmjow's eyebrows were raised the entire time; quite an uncharacteristic gesture.

„Peach butt." –he smirked.

Ichigo's blush deepened, he spluttered, and in the end managed to shout at the top of his lungs: „GET THE HELL OUT!"

And Grimmjow actually obeyed, probably because Ichigo's words lost their roughness due to a very embarrassed grimace he was making. The entire view turned out to be 'actually kinda cute' to Grimmjow, so he made sure to cast a special teasing look in Ichigo's direction before he closed the door after getting out.

After a couple of seconds passed by, Ichigo finally allowed himself to relax.

In exactly that moment, the door opened again to reveal once more Grimmjow standing at the doorstep.

„I forgot to take my clothes." – he mumbled, and grabbed his white Espada jacket from the floor.

„GET OUT!" – yelled Ichigo, trying to obscure his behind from the view with his hands.

Grimmjow smirked at him.

„Ya should use your hands more wisely." (Ichigo whimpered at the suggestion, and Grimmjow nearly cackled at his reaction.) „You left your front unguarded."

And with that he was out and away.

Ichigo's voice echoed through the hallways: „GRIMMJOW, YOU BASTARD!"

And Grimmjow, smugly striding back to his room, thought that maybe hanging around Ichigo wasn't such a stupid idea after all.

All in all, we could say that all of this was their first eye-to-skin meeting.

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I see you noticed I love to come up with new words or use weird phrases... Anyway, the words I didn't thought of, but some might find difficult to understand...

*sakura - cherry blossom

*tatami - straw matting, in a standard size, used as a floor covering in Japanese houses

*futon - a thin mattress of tufted cotton or similar material, placed on a floor or on a raised, foldable frame as a bed.

*onsen - a hot spring in Japan, often with accompanying bathing facilities.

Yes, I noticed how random all the happenings by now were absurd and random... Well, that's life for you. :P

Is anybody irritated by the new image feature as much as I am?


	3. Chapter 3

Why, hello there my lovelies~! I decided to give birth to another chapter! And this one is, I have to say, the longest by now. :D

Well, I have to be an evil ad guy, and say that if you like the story (or not) but you have a friend that might like it, you're free to spread the love. :3 I don't get tired of reviews, mind you!~

I also need to thank people who generally have a habit to post a comment on every new chapter to any fic of any author. :D I think you people are amazing. :D

So, yes... I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I hope it's not confusing... It wasn't beta'd and I was a bit in a difficult mood these days (Weltschmerz kicked in again..), so... I'm sure you'll notice the part in this chapter that shows my proneness to classics.

Anyway, I STILL hope you'll enjoy this. The Japanese dictionary is at the end of the chapter...~ :D Mind you, I didn't think it was necessary to repeat the words explained in the last chapter, or the words tied to Bleach universe (you should know those) or the really (relatively) frequent (in English) Japanese words, such as 'sensei'.

Also, some people might be offended that the place of action is a temple. (Not to mention, some nitpickers might note if I made factual errors on the subject of temples and everything related to it.) So, I want to apologise in advance. It's not my intention to offend anyone. I still hope you're going to enjoy reading. :D

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CHAPTER 3: HEART, MEAT, BED

Ichigo arrived home late at night and fell asleep even before his head touched the pillow, so when he awoke the next day, the Sun was already high in the sky.

He groaned at the memory of all the things that had happened at the temple yesterday (especially the ones involving Grimmjow), while simultaneously wandering what happened to his father's usual wake up call. Sitting up lazily, he looked at his clock (it was nearly 2 p.m.) and stared out the window, blinking at the stubbornly scorching Sun. As he slowly began to sober up, he noticed the sound of water gushing out from a hose. The rest of the family were probably watering (or in Isshin's case, flooding) the garden, he figured.

Rubbing his eyes, he once again went over the important parts of everything that had happened from the first time he saw Nekozawa. The little old man had said Ichigo should start training again. No matter how Ichigo looked at that, it seemed to be somehow connected to the Stolen Reishi device case. Anyway, even if it wasn't so, Nekozawa still knew way too much about him, and about everything not to be suspicious. What is his goal? Could he be the culprit?

And there was Grimmjow. Highly dangerous enemy showing up at the exactly perfect time after the stage for trouble has been set. Is Aizen involved? Somehow it seemed as plausible, as much as it made no sense. Aizen was defeated. Furthermore, if he was involved, the circumstances were set in a way only a highly delicate and tactical plan could be used to obtain his goals. Grimmjow seemed like a complete opposite of an agent who had the skills for such a task. It was just stupid. If Ichigo was in Aizen's shoes, he would pick someone like Ulquiorra for the task. Therefore, Aizen couldn't possibly be involved.

Unless, Aizen deliberately made a move that made no sense, so he could send his hunters in a completely different direction. And isn't it just plain obvious how much that Reishi device could make his goal of obtaining the King's Key easier for him? But! Aizen was defeated!

Ichigo nervously ruffled his own hair, and jumped out of the bed. Thinking about it took a nice circular form; he was just spinning around asking the same questions all over again. For all it's worth he might have become paranoid at some point. No. With how little he felt he knew, there's no use thinking about it. He made a firm decision. He would accept Nekozawa's training offer. He'll go to the temple as soon as possible. Grimmjow was there, too. That way he could keep an eye out on both of his two suspects.

It could also be useful to talk a bit with Rukia and Urahara about this.

In any case, as he stepped out of his room to continue with his usual daily life, Ichigo couldn't help but notice the annoying tension in his gut, signalizing something really, really bad is on its way.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Later that evening, Ichigo was already on his way to Nekozawa's. He had visited the Urahara Shop earlier that day, but found out nothing new. The Shinigami were still searching for the Device and the thief. There were no clues left to the robbery, and it mortified anybody who was involved in the case. Rukia, Renji, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Rangiku and Toushiro had arrived at the Human World. They had no new information either.

However, one positive thing did come out of Ichigo's visit to Urahara. He mentioned he was going to train a bit outside the town. The others offered their support, and even made a schedule to decide who and when is going to take over Ichigo's job of dispatching minor Hollows. What seemed a bit weird to Ichigo is that nobody questioned him about the details. But, he was also grateful to his friends for having so much faith in him. However, he did notice Urahara looking at him questioningly. He never mentioned Nekozawa or Grimmjow.

And it was slightly starting to bother him.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Nekozawa was standing with a lamp at the Torii*, waiting for Ichigo. When he arrived, the sky had been pitch black for quite a bit of time. After exchanging a couple of bows, smiles, and general 'how do you do's, they proceeded to walk in awkward silence towards the temple. The thick shrubbery and forest surrounded the dusty road they walked, and occasional protruding black branch, in the dark resembling a monster's claw, was sending the shivers up the spine of any living (and dead) creature. As they kept on walking, Ichigo could not shake off the feeling that the forest was growing blacker and the branches sharper with each step he took. He thought he heard a whisper to his left, but when he glanced at that direction, of course it was only the forest there. Shaking his head at his own silliness, as he kept on walking, whispering, endless whispering started spreading throughout the forest. He felt eyes fixating him mercilessly. Endless, countless pairs of eyes. When he looked around, there was only the forest. But the eyes still followed him everywhere. The endless song of crickets and cicadas only aggravated him further. He could tell the eyes were staring intently at the cold drop of sweat running down his back, invisible to any gaze, but for the one of these eyes. He felt horror washing over him, as he kept repeating to himself that he's being silly.

At that moment, the temple was barely a few meters away. When Ichigo's brain finally registered how close he was to the light shining from the inside, a cat meowed a shrill and scary meow. Like a bullet, Ichigo sprinted towards the temple, tossing aside his shoes and his reason as he rushed into the temple and swatted himself all over Grimmjow's firm body, which didn't budge a millimetre.

"Tch!" Grimmjow pushed Ichigo away, obviously irritated "Watch were you're going, Shinigami."

Ichigo frowned at him, but said nothing. He was actually smart enough not to start a fight. He wasn't exactly in the mood either. In that moment Ichigo was much more occupied wandering about himself, his actions and feelings of a couple seconds ago. He was not the one to run away, even if he felt threatened or scared. But, the really weird part was the irrational horror he felt back there. It didn't feel normal, like it wasn't his own feeling; it was as if somebody planted the horror into him. Even weirder was that it was just him. Nekozawa was walking in his usual pace, his seemingly completely carefree expression now showing a bit of worry.

"What happened, Kurosaki-san?"- he said, worried- "Why did you suddenly start running?"

"More importantly" -Grimmjow cut across him, leaning at the door and towering over the little old man- "Where the hell were you? Where's my dinner?"

Nekozawa inched back a bit, so that he seemed even more fragile than usual.

"Well… I went out to wait for Kurosaki-san… I thought we should all have dinner together." – he said feebly.

Grimmjow glared at him, and simply walked away slowly, shouting "Hurry up!".

"Bastard." – Ichigo couldn't hold back the comment when Grimmjow was out of sight.

"Don't say that." – said Nekozawa softly – "You can never know the reasons one has for acting the way they do." Ichigo looked at Nekozawa in surprise.

"Now, I'll go prepare dinner." – Nekozawa beamed at him, and slowly walked down the hallway. Ichigo followed him, still bewildered.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Ichigo offered his help in preparing the dinner, although he knew he had zero cooking skills, so he ended up just arranging the plates on top of the low, small, round table. The curiosity which fired up in him at the moment Nekozawa said that thing at the doorstep was now a bit too much to bear.

Raising his head to look at the old man, he immediately fired his question.

"Old Man, what did you mean by 'you can never know the reasons one has for acting the way they do'?"

Nekozawa stopped in the middle of his work, and looked at Ichigo, his smile slightly fading away.

"Well…"-he started- "I suppose it can be explained in various ways, but the key idea is pretty much the same."

He sat on the tatami, putting down the plate he had in his hands on the table. He smiled at Ichigo.

"But, in this case, you're asking what it has to do with Grimmjow-san, am I right?"

Ichigo nodded slightly, granting Nekozawa his undivided attention. Nekozawa sighed looking in front of him.

"There's one advice I wish to give you, Kurosaki-san, if you're allow me…" –he paused a bit, and deciding that Ichigo's silence meant he should carry on, he continued – "All creatures have pride. And no creature can stand it to be hurt in any way. Sometimes, the matter of pride seems to be a really stupid and illogical thing… We have to be aware of all these three things all the time… We should try not to hurt each other's pride, and even if we accidently hurt each other, no matter how stupid the thing that offended someone may seem, we should strive to be patient with that person. And, possibly, help that person to find forgiveness in their hearts, and hopefully, gentleness and modesty to replace the stupid Ego …" -Ichigo looked a bit confused, so Nekozawa hurried to explain himself- "People, Ichigo, because they want to preserve the mask they created in front of other people, based on what their society thought was right, sometimes act differently then what they really feel… Unable to truly express their emotions, that would be… I know that's familiar to you, too… Sometimes, they even become their mask, and try to destroy all the gentleness in their hearts, just for the sake of rising up to expectations or surviving. They jump into the cruellest of life's struggles, just to show their power, and in that never ending vicious circle, they forget all the things that make a Heart. But! The key thing is, and very little people know it, that the true nature of the Heart is its eternity. A Heart can never be destroyed. And when so-called bad people are being bad to others, you can take my word, there's at least a tiny bit of them that hurts terribly in the process. Most of the times, they're not even aware of it. Sometimes they rewire their hearts in a way that it starts to love and enjoy horrible stuff, but I'm telling you, the core of a Heart remains the same, and its core is that feeling of light and love spreading through your body when you help someone. Anyway, to keep a long story short, because I see you barely follow… And I also find hard to express what exactly I'm trying to say… I'm saying, Ichigo, that everyone has a piece of good in them. In other words, I'm saying you should try giving Grimmjow a chance. Actually, much more then just one chance. Be patient. It seldom works on a first try." –In the middle of his monologue Nekozawa got a bit theatrical, so now he paused to wipe the sweat off of his brow – "And I mentioned pride, because I want you to notice how much tact, patience and understanding is necessary in order not to hurt other's pride or feelings. Because, if you do that, they're almost certainly forever lost… Because they'll never trust you again." – Nekozawa wiped the sweat again, poured himself some tea and sipped it.

Ichigo stared in front of himself nodding lightly. He kind of understood what Nekozawa had told him, and kind of didn't. He understood the important part: he should give Grimmjow a lot of chances to prove he's not completely a must-be-defeated enemy. Well, it kind of made sense and kind of didn't.

Then, Ichigo's train of thought was suddenly stopped, because Grimmjow burst into the room.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Oddly enough, the mood during dinner lighted up considerably. Ichigo and Nekozawa, who were both on the way of delving into not so cheerful philosophical spheres of mind, were brought back to surface by Grimmjow's loud and pompous nature. All of a sudden, Ichigo was particularly interested in Grimmjow's eating habits. He found himself stopping with his chopsticks in mid-air, staring slightly shocked at Grimmjow, who was completely occupied in literally devouring what seemed like kilograms and kilograms of meat. He was grabbing one enormous chunk after enormous chunk of meat with his chopsticks, not bothering to cut anything, barely chewing the meat, and stuffing them into his mouth with such passion and speed that it could be called lust. The sauce that was dripping down his chin he would lick, while grabbing the nearest chunk of meat with his chopsticks.

Both Nekozawa and Ichigo were staring at him in shock. How he managed not to get any sauce anywhere else than his mouth was beyond them. Nekozawa tried to speak.

"Do you… want some vegetables with that meat?" –he asked warily.

"Don't need that shit." – Grimmjow replied, getting back to his dinner.

Ichigo chimed in.

"How can you breathe and eat at the same time?" – he asked stupidly.

"It's a talent." – Grimmjow bared his perfectly white teeth while menacingly grinning at Ichigo.

"How come it's possible your teeth are still white with those eating habits?" – he frowned.

Grimmjow obviously lost it, because he grabbed Ichigo's plate and hurriedly stuffed all the meat that was on it into his own mouth.

"If you're going to talk, I'll gladly eat your share too."

Ichigo rebelled and tried to take away the plate from Grimmjow's hands. Their scuffle ended when they broke the plate.

"Well… You'll have to pay for that, Shinigami." – Grimmjow grinned at Ichigo.

"Shut up" – was Ichigo's witty retort.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Luckily for Ichigo, bath time ended without incidents. Especially, the ones of the naked sort. However, bed time was sure to make up for it.

For some weird reason, Nekozawa decided it would be perfect for Ichigo and Grimmjow to share a futon. Both Grimmjow and Ichigo didn't exactly share the opinion.

"Why?"-yelled Ichigo- "Just tell me one good reason! I mean, you have hundreds of rooms in this temple. Why should I share a bed with him?"- he pointed at Grimmjow.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I'm with the brat on this one." –Grimmjow chimed in with his baritone mumbling in its lowest tones (Ichigo felt shivers run up his spine at the tone). Obviously sleepy, he was lying on the futon, facing Ichigo and Nekozawa, leaning on his elbow, with one leg bent in the knee, and gently caressing his bare chest. "Why?" – he echoed Ichigo's question.

"Well…" – started Nekozawa- "As I saw that you two don't exactly get along well, I thought that a bit of skinship might smooth the thing out for you, at least enough for you two to be able to train together tomorrow, without killing each other."

Ichigo gaped like a fish at Nekozawa. Grimmjow snorted sarcastically.

"WHAT?" –yelled Ichigo, but Nekozawa was already out of the room with a feeble 'good night' left at his spot.

"What?" – Ichigo repeated himself to the slide doors, his eyes wide and twitching.

"Wha', you didn't know?" – teased Grimmjow from his spot; his grin could almost be heard in his voice- "I was supposed to bring your little ass into form. In other words, I'll be your Sensei."

Ichigo turned around to retort back and rebel against the idea, but he forgot what he was about to say the moment he saw Grimmjow. He frowned.

"Please stop that."

Grimmjow shot him a questioning glare.

"Please stop touching yourself."

A tactical mistake from Ichigo. Grimmjow gave Ichigo his most maniacal grin, and with one smooth and unnoticeable movement loosened up his kimono a bit more. He continued to caress his chest slower.

"Why do you care? We're all men here." – he teased.

Ichigo blushed and tried to look away as inconspicuously as he could. He didn't exactly understand why he was blushing all of a sudden. Grimmjow was a bit surprised at Ichigo's reaction.

"Come on, you can't be that innocent. It's impossible."- he said.

Ichigo panicked a bit and tried to change the subject. He got hold of the first thing that came to his mind.

"Oh yeah." – he looked back with renewed confidence. – "You seem to be changing moods ridiculously fast today. What's the matter?" –it was meant as a tease, but Grimmjow suddenly dropped the grin. The mood in the room changed yet again.

"What?"- asked Ichigo seriously.

Grimmjow got up and walked to the window.

"Mess around as much as you want." – he said looking outside into the dark forest – "Nothing important, I suppose. Just a really bad premonition."

Ichigo stiffened at the words. Had Grimmjow felt the same thing as he did?

Dark silence fell on the room. They stood there for a while.

"Go to sleep." –said Grimmjow.

Ichigo wasn't in the mood to argue. "Aha." – he said, and his look fell on the futon and the clothes near it. There was Grimmjow's Espada uniform and Ichigo's pyjama.

"Umm…" – started Ichigo looking back at Grimmjow – "Where is your pyjama?"

Grimmjow grinned at Ichigo over his shoulder.

"I sleep nude."

* * *

The Dictionary:

*Torii - A torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine

(Not many words this time... Well, the last time made up for it.)

I hope my being philosophical (and not knowing how to express it) didn't ruin it for you.

Don't call me a sick person, but I find Grimmjow's eating habits... smexy? But! The picture of his pose on the futon, had to be 'stamp of approval'-bringing for every Grimmjow fangirl or fanboy. Right? :D

If you're interested, I'm currently reading Shimazaki T.'s 'Hakai'... And no, don't give me that look, I don't know Japanese. I just gave you the title in Japanese to make things more interesting... I plan on reading Sei Shonagon's 'Makura no soushi' next... Have you ever read anything from a Japanese author before? If yes, what? What would you recommend? (Akutagawa doesn't count... I've read some of his stories already, and I plan on finding out more.)

...

I wonder, because I know you have imagination... How did you picture Ichigo's reaction to Grimmjow's 'I sleep nude'? :D

If you read the notes and are going to reply, I thank thee, reader!


	4. Chapter 4

Why, hello again! I hope you're happy that I've finally decided to show up with a new chapter...

I'm going to tell you straight in the face - I'm not happy with it. If I started to count all the things I'm not pleased with, I'd probably spoil your fun... Anyway, as usual, I still hope you're going to like it.

And, just in the case you're wondering, "Hakai" was great. I've tried reading "Makura no soshi", but as it is a dairy of a court lady, I simply couldn't stand it... Let's not delve into further explanation, because there might be someone who might want to lecture me on why and how that book is great...

As for the chapter, I was waiting for MageOnx to review it first (and coolly murder my heart of glass), but she was taking her sweet time, so I went and posted it without her stamp of approval. It's not like I'd ever change anything even if she did review it...

Anyway, please enjoy the chapter, even if it is silly.

* * *

CHAPTER 4: Wishful Thinking

The best way to deal with stupid statements that are most likely a joke or a lie is to ignore them completely, and act as if you have never heard them. Or not.

It was probably past midnight already. Everything slept soundly, covered in the dark of the night that surrounded them. Everything except an occasional cricket and Karakura's own Substitute Shinigami-san, who was currently struggling to get more (personal) space in his overly packed futon. Luckily for Ichigo, Grimmjow decided (of his own free will!) that sleeping nude would provide too much skinship for Ichigo, so he compromised.

He decided half-naked is as good as anything.

So, he was now lying there, sleeping like a dead man and tightly squeezing Ichigo in a hug worthy of a professional wrestler. Naturally, Ichigo tried to break free. If you have ever tried to shake a sleeping cat off of your arm which it hugged in the process, then you can imagine how much success Ichigo's action brought to him. None whatsoever.

After some time, Ichigo gave up on trying to escape.

'No use.' – thought he – 'He just keeps gripping me tighter.'

He started sweating somewhere along the way, and now it started to be really irritating. It wasn't exactly the nicest thing, to have your bed-mate's (Ichigo shivered at the thought) skin glued to your own via sweat. It was disgusting, especially because it was another man.

In that moment, while Ichigo was pondering on the question of why people sweat, Grimmjow gripped Ichigo even tighter, causing him to produce a light, exaggerated choking sound. It seemed to Ichigo that his enemy, although asleep, is still trying to kill him. It was creepy…

But, Grimmjow smelled really nice. It was kind of a strong, manly, yet really attractive scent. It made you feel kind of light-headed… Ichigo cursed himself for thinking about something so stupid… From his current position, Ichigo could best look at Grimmjow's arms, firmly placed around his torso. Well, not look, as much as feel all of that man around him. His arms, his torso, his legs. His heavy chin and his light breathing. Grimmjow was strong, really strong, and it made Ichigo feel a bit weird. He suddenly felt really small under the big Espada. But, back then, Ichigo, brimming with confidence, defeated Grimmjow. Now, it twisted into horrible remorse, chewing his gut from the inside. Losing from just some kid must have terribly hurt the pride of such a strong and beautiful man. If Ichigo was in his shoes, he wouldn't have been able to stand it. Well, Grimmjow himself wasn't exactly taking it stoically... Oi! Did he just a couple of seconds ago thought that Grimmjow was beautiful? What the hell's with that?! Well, thinking about it objectively, it could be said that Grimmjow was actually really sexy maybe. Women were probably throwing themselves at him. And, he had a sort of charm? It was obvious other guys really appreciated him. It could be read from his Fraccion… Ichigo concluded something fishy was placed in his dinner tonight. There's no way he would consciously think of something so disgusting by his own free will.

And, with those thoughts, Ichigo was slowly drifting to sleep. Mixed feelings saw him off to the deeper realms of sleep. There was a bit of bitterness, coming from a sort of jealousy, a bit of crazy panic and anger, and there was something that caught the last remains of his consciousness; a feeling of Grimmjow's arms around him. It evocated the memory of his mother, and that distant and nostalgic feeling of having someone special who cares about you.

In the morning, he forgot all about it, but even if he didn't, he could probably only remember something that could be placed under the category of wishful thinking. Or not?

IIIIIIIIIIIII

The morning came way too soon, in Ichigo's opinion. The ridiculously persistent light of the new day might as well not be there, because he didn't exactly notice it until he really came back to the reality. What cruelly awoke him was the presence of cool air on all the tender and warmed up parts of his body due to the lack of Grimmjow's skin on them. The now cooled off sweat made the entire effect even worse. The realisation that he missed Grimmjow was the worst. The thought that he only missed him as a blanket was kind of comforting. As well as freakishly disturbing.

Well, since he was awake now, he might as well start with the new day! Positively and without any trace of Grimmjow, if possible. He tried to boost up his own morale as he stretched, still sitting at the futon. It came to him that rain was falling outside, which meant the end of the insufferable heat of this week. It was a good thing, because training will be much easier at a normal temperature.

And just when Ichigo's morning was taking its turn for the better, Grimmjow, of course, had to come to check up on him.

"Oh! I see you finally woke up!" – he growled slamming the slide doors behind him, making them slide back open because of the force.

"It's incredible how you always appear when I least want you to appear." – commented Ichigo earnestly, ready to start a fight. So much for starting the day positively and without a trace of Grimmjow.

"Glad to see your little slow brain finally understands how incredible I am."- retorted Grimmjow with a grin.

He was in a bad mood, because the stupid rain meant that making the brat train outside would need much more energy then he wanted to spend on the task. But, when the brat made that default frowning face of his, Grimmjow's mood brightened quite a bit. Earlier, that defiant face would have pissed him off like nothing else. But, from last night onwards, everything changed. Somehow, seeing the kid sleep had set a whole new perspective. When Ichigo slept his usual serious face melted into a completely relaxed and blessed smile just at the corner of his lips, but a ghost of his frown still sat at his brow. With his back arched as he slept on his side, his arms were tightly hugging Grimmjow's as he snuggled closer to them. Ichigo back then was really cute, like a kitten. Comparing that to his tough guy act when he was awake made his default frowning face seem funny.

He really was like a fluffy little kitten trying to walk proudly, but ending up just cutely swaggering around the house.

"Now get your little slow ass out of the bed and go eat breakfast. You'll need all the strength you can muster to endure me pounding you into the ground."-added Grimmjow with the craziest grin he could offer.

Ichigo frowned at him. There was something off about what Grimmjow said, but Ichigo couldn't exactly point it out.

"I will. Now, go away, I have to change." – he said nonchalantly.

"OK. I'll wait for you right here." –retorted Grimmjow in the same tone, staring intently at Ichigo. He was obviously teasing him.

Ichigo knew that if he tried to object, Grimmjow would just tease the hell out of him. Out of the blue, Ichigo envisioned himself stripping in front of Grimmjow in a slow-motion exaggeratedly shy manner often seen in comedy ecchi anime complete with sparkling pink background filled with shiny bubbles made of soap, lacy underwear and embarrassing and stupid lines such as: "Okay-dokey~! But no peaking~!" accompanied with exaggerated blush, exaggerated "Oooh~!" sound effects and sparkly eyes.

He facepalmed. What the hell was wrong with his brain? If it really was due to food, maybe he should skip the breakfast. Otherwise, he should definitely cut his hanging around Keigo and Kon to minimum. The really crazy thing was, if he had done that impression of an ecchi anime character, maybe he would have shocked Grimmjow into being afraid of him. But, now the idea mortified him to such extent that he wouldn't be able to do it now, even he wanted to…

In the end, he decided he should skip the breakfast just to be on the safe side.

But, he'll have to deal with Grimmjow first.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Grimmjow stared at Ichigo intently. His grinning revealed his overly sharp white teeth. If you stared too long, you got the feeling as if they're going to be used to rip your throat any minute now.

Ichigo stared too long. But, the little breath of horror never stirred the hair at the back of his neck. He got an excellent idea how to deal with the problem of Grimmjow trying to embarrass him.

"What the hell are you doing?"- Grimmjow asked with amusement obvious in his voice.

Ichigo fixated Grimmjow with the best neutral look on a poker face he could offer, which turned out to be quite a ridiculous grimace. He took the blanket that was lying near him on the futon and wrapped himself in it so that only his head was visible.

"I'm changing. Isn't it obvious?"- he said, starting to change underneath the blanket, all the while fixating Grimmjow with his ridiculous grimace.

Grimmjow barely gulped down the laughter that was threatening to burst out. The damned brat was so cute! The move he just did looked so stupid, that it was simply cute. And the face! If he lingered around anymore, he probably wouldn't be able to sustain his laughter anymore. Since keeping his image intact was important, Grimmjow decided to draw back as casually and coolly as he could. In the back of his mind, he noted the sudden change in his relationship with Ichigo. Since when was he so friendly with the brat? Referring to the kid with his first name, what the hell? Was he going soft? Why? Ichigo was his most hated enemy. And he still owned him a rematch. There was no reason to be nice to him…

Suddenly it hit him. He stiffened and his mood instantly blackened.

"Just hurry up with it, you idiot." – he breathed out and went out of the room.

Ichigo grinned with triumph. He just got close to evening out the score with Grimmjow. But, just now, Grimmjow didn't seem to be as in a good mood as like a couple of seconds ago. Did Ichigo do something to piss him off?

IIIIIIIIIIIII

'I'm in love with the brat.'-thought Grimmjow while slowly walking down the corridor. The thought turned into a thick shadow hanging above his head. He growled silently.

'I, of all people! And it had to be him.' He stopped and rubbed his eyes with one hand, while placing the other into the gap of his white hakama. Resuming the walk, he shook his head.

'Never mind… Fucking moment of weakness... Haven't had a lay lately, so desire just kicked in… Yeah, it's probably that.' The unpleasant feeling of telling a lie reared his ugly head in Grimmjow's mind.

"Who are you fooling?" –he smirked bitterly to himself.

'Just ignore it!' –he continued to think, frowning –'It'll pass. It always does. It'll pass just like a bad cold…'

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Urahara lazily sipped his tea. Normally, he would be smiling and teasing poor Renji who was now busy being overworked in the store, but today he had other things on his mind. And Renji seemed to notice that too.

"Today you're not as annoying as usual." –said he leaning on the broomstick he was sweeping the floor with. –"What's the catch?"

"My~! Me? Annoying? What a horrible thing to say, Abarai-san~!" –Urahara replied instantly in his cheerful sing-song voice.

"But, it's just as you say." –he sighed and continued seriously –"This 'Stolen Reishi Device Case' is starting to really bother me."

"What do you mean by that?" – Rukia chimed in, coming into the room and sitting near Urahara. –"Have you found something out or…?"

"No, not really." – he sighed. Both Rukia and Renji were looking at him intently.

"This… Device is a recent invention. It's still filed under a code and not a real name, and I'm slightly worried about what would happen if the device went out of control… But, what bothers me even more is this case. The device was stolen, that we know; but not a single trace of evidence?! We haven't a single clue. Not even a suspect. Not even the idea of who might be the culprit… No matter how you look at the things, there simply has to be evidence. But there is nothing. As if it vanished into thin air. To make it even worse, it's been over two weeks now since the time it was stolen." –he sighed -"I'm afraid our only option now is to wait for the device to be used."

"We really have no other option, huh?" –Renji asked no one in particular.

Everything fell into silence. Rukia stared at her hands, and Renji fixated the floor with a tense look on his face. Urahara took another sip of his tea.

"However… There was one interesting thing in the entire development." The other two raised their heads in question.

"Kurosaki-san…" –Urahara smiled slyly –"He was acting a bit weird the other day, wasn't he?"

Renji started: "Don't tell me!..."

"He had found something out?!" – Rukia finished.

"Oi, oi. Wasn't it a bit obvious?" – asked Urahara slightly disappointed –"Him wanting to train all of a sudden and such."

"Well, yeah. I though he just wanted to prepare, just in case…" – Renji trailed off.

"So, he did found out something new? Then why haven't he said so?" – asked Rukia.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to any of those questions." –smiled Urahara sadly –"But, if he did, he must have had a really good reason not to say anything to us. For now, we should place our trust in him."

"That idiot." – said Rukia, and smiled – "Yeah, you're probably right. He must have had a really good reason."

"He better have!" – grinned Renji – "Anyway, whatever happens we'll be sure to watch his back. Just like we always did."

In that moment, Orihime entered the room announcing the first round of barbecue ready to be eaten.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Later that evening, falling onto the futon, Ichigo barely resisted the urge to wince at the amount of damage he took. This day reminded him why Grimmjow was one of two people on his 'Really Messed-up Opponents List'. Although not as difficult to harm nor as scary as Kenpachi, Grimmjow was a tough opponent. His fighting style is crazy! Other people fight with classic moves or predictable patterns, while Grimmjow seems like he's improvising the majority of his hits. Not to mention that he's ridiculously sturdy and has unspendable energy. But, Ichigo did notice a possible trap Grimmjow has set for himself. He likes to play with his enemy, but he also gets bored with things fast. And when you get bored, your motivation declines. And in a fight, motivation can be the little thing that can flip the whole match around and decide the winner. Ichigo knew that very well, that's why he planned on using it in their training… But still! It's almost like… No, Grimmjow _is_ having fun beating people to a pulp. Just like Kenpachi. Ichigo shivered, and made a mental note to never let those two meet each other.

He winced as he tried to change his pose. Almost couldn't believe Grimmjow called the today's training 'testing the waters'.

'The damned bastard sure got stronger since the last time I fought him.' – he thought.

In that moment he heard the slide doors opening, and closed his eyes to pretend he's asleep. It was Grimmjow, he knew, slightly limping from their training fight from today.

'I got him good.'-thought Ichigo smugly.

"Oi, brat!" – Grimmjow threw a slightly wet towel over Ichigo's head. –"Aren't ya gonna take a bath?"

Ichigo made sure not to budge a millimetre. The towel smelled like Grimmjow. It made him feel that slightly weird, but pleasant sensation of light-headedness again. He managed to stop himself before he took a deep breath.

'Stupid smell pervert!'- he yelled at himself inwardly, now nearly sorry for not having at least one broken bone in his body.

Grimmjow then lifted up the towel. "Huh? You asleep?" Ichigo made sure he made the best sleeping impression he could.

"Brat."- was all that Grimmjow said. He sat on the floor, grunting at the pain in his leg (Every hair at the back of Ichigo's neck stood up at the sound), and started drying himself off with the towel. His breathing was occasionally cut with tired sighs and grunts due to his wounded leg, and because of that Ichigo literally felt his face turning red. Even the dark of his closed eyes turned red. He could hear his own heart beats inside his head.

'Oh m-… What the-… What is he doing?!'- Ichigo yelled inwardly. And like a last idiot on this planet, he went and tried to peek at Grimmjow, but he met face to face with those psychotically blue eyes. Grimmjow was now lying down on his back, next to the futon.

"I knew it." –he grinned – "What the hell are you peeking at, you dirty little pervert?"

Ichigo's face turned maroon with shame. He spluttered and mumbled trying to form a coherent excuse.

"You thought I was getting off?"- Grimmjow sounded much more amused then he should have been. –"Didn't you?"

The whole new level of shame gave Ichigo enough strength to hastily get up on his feet, mumble 'Have to take a bath!' and dash for the bathroom.

Unluckily, he wasn't fast enough not to hear Grimmjow's cackle echo through the room:

"Ya'll be punished for that, just so you know!"

Too bad for Grimmjow, it seems his bad cold is far from leaving him.

* * *

People really enjoy drinking tea (or in Grimmjow's case entering the rooms more or less dramatically) in this fic, don't they?

Anyway, I'm not really sure whether 'unspendable' is a real word or not, but just in case, I'll let you know it means "not spendable".

Also, writing this fic made me realise once again that reality, in fact, is relative. How I arrived at that obvious-but-not-really-obvious conclusion, you ask? I figured some people might not agree with every little thing I pull off with this fic, simply because they think (or to phrase it better: to them) it's not realistic. The key thing is in that 'to them'. Everybody has their own reality, and that's one of the World's great marvels. Yes, I'm done being philosophical. But, I do have that customary question I have at the end of almost every chapter.

Since I know you love music, I'm free to presume you have that one particular song that's always been to you a GrimmIchi song. My question is: Which one is it? And why? :D

Also, I want you to know I'm already on the 5th chapter, so if everything runs smoothly, you'll be reading that one in no time. But, I'm making no promises!


	5. Chapter 5

Remember when I said that if everything runs smoothly you'll be reading this thing soon? Well, things didn't go smoothly as planned. Meaning: School's up & running again. What can I do~!

This chapter... Nothing much happens, if you ask me. It is the longest one by now, though. However, there's that really big part of it (starting from the breakfast and on), that I even considered throwing into the secret drawer of 'take out's'. Nevertheless, it's my job to be endlessly unsatisfied with it, so don't mind me.

I still hope you enjoy the chapter...

By the way, in the last chapter (and I think in this one too), I've made quite a bit of catastrophic grammar mistakes. I hereby apologise for that. I know I need to revise my tenses...

* * *

CHAPTER 5: SEEDS

Orihime was on her way home, humming a senseless tune. She didn't think the barbecue they had at Urahara's would take so much time; it was probably past midnight now.

Both Ishida and Sado offered to walk her home, but she refused saying she's a big girl that can take care of herself. After all, she didn't want to cause trouble to any of her friends.

The melody she was singing now changed. It was a really popular tune, but she couldn't remember which song exactly it was…

The streets at night sure aren't exactly the most pleasant of views. Everything was deserted, and the nearby traffic lights were blinking menacingly at her with their yellow eye. And some really cold wind was blowing. She stopped singing, shivered and pulled her jacket tighter around herself. A page of today's newspapers blown by the wind got entangled between her legs. "Mass murderer on the run" she read as she skipped over it.

'Silly me!'-she interrupted her own dark thoughts- 'It's not like the murderer is going to show up right here and right now. Maybe he's not even in Karakura! Yes, that's it! If I was a murderer, I would definitely flee from this country and change my name and face… Maybe I would rob a bank!' She was lost in her thoughts, but in the middle of imagining all the horrible things she would do as a murderer, and all the heroic things Kurosaki-kun would do to stop her as the great P.I. he is, she noticed she was walking really fast now.

'Now this is really silly!'- she thought, although she didn't change her pace- 'What am I afraid of?'

She suddenly heard a sob, and froze at her spot.

To her right, under one of the lampposts, one woman was crouching and crying her heart out. Orihime thought that she had never in her life heard someone cry so hard. Did she get dumped or fired? As far as Orihime saw, she seemed to be a really pretty lady. She wore a classic long-sleeved little black dress, high heeled pumps and a little black purse. Her hair was brown, wavy and full of volume. That same hair was covering up the majority of the lady's face, so Orihime couldn't see it.

"Umm… Are you alright?"- Orihime approached, placing her hand gently on the woman's shoulder–"Do you need help?"

The lady raised her head, and Orihime saw that she had no eyes, nose nor mouth. Her face was as smooth as a surface of an egg.

Orihime's heart skipped a beat, and for a moment she thought she was going to faint. She backed out and the woman made a movement as if she's going to get up. Finally breaking out of the shock, Orihime didn't wait to see if the woman will get up or not; she ran as fast she could back to the Urahara Shop.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Renji (with the little help of Rukia) was just finishing up the cleaning of the mess left after the barbecue, when Orihime appeared out of nowhere and threw herself at their feet, trembling like a leaf in the wind.

Rukia let go of the broom she was holding, and knelt down seizing her by the shoulders.

"Orihime! What's wrong?!" Orihime was babbling, trying to make a coherent sentence. There were tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong? Was it a mugger?! A rapist?!" – Renji piped in.

"Renji!" – Rukia looked at him angrily, and turned back to Orihime – "Get a grip, Inoue. Tell me what's wrong."

"N-N-N… Noppera*!" – Orihime managed to squeeze out.

"Noppera?" –repeated the other two in bewilderment.

As if called upon, Urahara walked up to them from the shop. Ururu, Jinta and Tesai followed him behind.

"What's all the ruckus for?"-he asked both Renji and Rukia- "Why aren't you cleaning up?" Then, he finally noticed Orihime.

"Oh! Inoue-san? Haven't you left about half an hour ago? What are you doing here?"

Giving everybody really confused looks, Renji decided to answer the question.

"Uh… Yeah… She ran up to us just now… She said she saw… a noppera."

"Are you messing with us?" –Jinta run up to Orihime- "Shinigami and Hollow are real, but youkai* like the noppera don't exist!"

"That's true." –confirmed Rukia silently.

"But-"– started Orihime.

"That may be true"- Urahara interrupted, and faced Jinta- "But it's also true that Inoue-san did see something, which is why she's like this." He tilted his head towards Orihime.

"What do you mean?" – asked Renji, confused.

"I think…" -Urahara paused for the dramatic effect, smiling slyly- "That our culprit may have finally begun to move."

A lot of people opened their mouths to voice their opinions, but Urahara cut across them: "But! It's just a theory. For now."

"So, now we need evidence." –concluded Rukia.

"Yes." –said Urahara- "But, right now, we need some sleep!" He turned to Orihime and said: "Inoue-san, you are welcome to stay for the night."

After a lot of persuasion, a whole new level of racket caused by the rest of the Shinigami (mainly Matsumoto) who were awoken, and even more reasoning with the entire team to go to sleep after hearing the news, the yard of Urahara Shop finally went silent.

Urahara stood outside looking up at the Moon.

"Something tells me this won't be the last ghost sighting in the town." –he smiled at the black cat that stood beside him.

"Huh, Yoruichi-san?"

IIIIIIIIIIIII

When the morning finally came, Ichigo wasn't sure whether he's happy to crawl out of under Grimmjow or absolutely depressed about having to put up with him for another day.

While he was dressing up absentmindedly and barely awake, he realised that he got used to sleeping with Grimmjow, so much (and way too fast) in fact, that he would probably feel awkward falling asleep without him. He decided not to skip breakfast this time, even if it was poisoned, because he needed energy for that day.

As for the weather, it seemed he spoke too soon about the end of insufferable heat due to rain falling, because today seemed to be another perfectly sunny day.

Cursing the global warming, he swaggered towards his breakfast, hoping Grimmjow's announced punishment won't be anything perverted.

The whole atmosphere of that day's breakfast was interesting, to say the least. Nekozawa was off and about doing chores, so it was just Ichigo and Grimmjow, facing each other, sitting on the wooden floor of the porch, with an amazing look at the lake and the gazebo at the very middle of it. Ichigo wondered what it was like to be at that gazebo, surrounded by the lake from almost every side, and from every side protected from pesky insects with light curtain-like material. It was a thing that belonged in a castle and not a temple. And yes, it really is romantic. The whole view.

That's why it was so weird to stare at it with Grimmjow. The idea of a romantic dinner with the bastard made Ichigo want to crack open his own head at the nearest hard surface. Luckily, he resisted the urge.

Looking up, he saw that Grimmjow was staring at him, deeply concentrated at his own thoughts. To make sure there won't be a single living witness seeing him blush at that (as well as, to make sure not to look the other way), Ichigo frowned as hard as he could, slightly shook his head, and spoke to Grimmjow in a tone which sounded like he was definitely picking up a fight:

"What?!"

When Grimmjow's eyes cleared up a bit, with their focus shifting strongly on Ichigo's brown ones, Ichigo had to use all of his mental strength not to look away. If he but blinked, he would have lost the fight.

"Ha?!"- Grimmjow dared him to repeat what he had said.

Ichigo's eye twitched. That 'ha' was one of the things that pissed off Ichigo the most. It was that specific sound all bullies and punks used in order to dare people to stand up to them; a sound which also bore promise of an upcoming beating up in case the target was foolish enough to retort back at it. In Ichigo's humble opinion, rare was the person who could pull it off and actually sound cool and threatening. He hated that 'ha', as much as he hated bullies.

But, the thing that he almost desperately tried to deny at that moment was the goosebumps that run down his spine when Grimmjow had said it. The authority of the way he had said it, combined with the piercing look in his eyes was overwhelming. Nearly.

Ichigo wouldn't be Ichigo if he didn't try to ignore it.

"I said 'What?!'"-he answered, irritated- "Why are you staring at me?"

Silence. They stared at each other with great tension. Grimmjow offered a lopsided grin and looked sideways.

"Hm."-he snorted. Ichigo narrowed his eyes at him. After some time, Grimmjow spoke up.

"You know,"-he paused with a slight grin on his face "I've figured something out."

He paused again, waiting for Ichigo to urge him on.

"Oh, yeah?"-Ichigo got the message- "Let's hear it then."

Grimmjow looked at him, that slight grin still on his face.

"I've figured you look like one of those skinny, spruced up pretty-boys which sing distressingly pathetic songs in ridiculously high-pitched and soft voices." –his grin widened – "I caught a glimpse of it at the screen last night. Not that I understood anything, but still…"

His eyes watched carefully for Ichigo's reaction. It was definitely meant as an offence. Not for the singers, but for Ichigo, the damned rebellious brat. Grimmjow could care less about human entertainment.

Luckily for himself, Ichigo was ready for that, and decided to react calmly. He took a sip of his tea, and replied looking Grimmjow straight in the eyes:

"First, it's not 'the screen', it's 'TV'. Second, don't mock K-Pop, someone might hear you. Third, don't judge stuff on just a glimpse, it'll make you look like a fool when it shows that you've been wrong. And forth, there are quite a bit of good K-Pop songs."

Grimmjow frowned and opened his mouth to start an actual fight, when Nekozawa showed up carrying so many sheets that only his legs could be seen.

"Oh… Umm…Please, help!"-he pleaded, dangerously swinging to one side with the sheets mountain. Ichigo got up quickly and steadied everything before it tumbled down on the breakfast.

"Let me help you carry that inside, Old Man."-he offered.

"Ah! Thank you very much, Kurosaki-san!"-sighed Nekozawa.

Before Ichigo did anything else, he turned to Grimmjow and smirked:

"By the way, thanks for saying that I look like a K-Pop idol."

Before Grimmjow retorted anything, in his last rush of temperamental rebelliousness, Ichigo did a three-seconds-long rendition of a girl group's hip dance right where Grimmjow could see it way-too-nicely, ending it with a strong and loud slap at his own behind. He then took half of what Nekozawa was carrying and marched inside. The old man followed him, apologetically bowing to Grimmjow.

For a few seconds, Grimmjow stared wide-eyed and blinking in bewilderment after them. Yet again, it was one of those rare moments when his eyebrows were raised for a while.

He finally broke out of his stupor with a slight shiver, and he faced the other way.

"Damn! That ass." –he simply had to hiss it out.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

The moment he reached the closet where the clean sheets are supposed to be placed, Ichigo let everything that he was carrying fall onto the floor, so he could lean on the wall and despair.

'I. Can't. Believe. What. I've. Just. Done!'-he thought.

What man in the World in his right state of mind would do that quirky and provocative (and girly!) move in front of one his greatest rivals and enemies? Kurosaki Ichigo, obviously. Except, right now he wasn't exactly sure whether he was sane or insane. While he wondered if his father's insanity is hereditary, a strange hope that he was at least a little bit sexy out there wiggled its way into his mind.

He was about to knock out that hope out of his head with a nice hit, but his head never connected with the wall. Nekozawa managed to stop him.

"What are you doing?"- he asked, worried and horrified.

Ichigo leaned once more against the wall. He looked up at the ceiling, frowning.

"Nothing."-he answered. Nekozawa placed his pile of sheets gently on the floor, and sat down. He patted the spot next to himself, motioning Ichigo to sit.

"I've been really weird lately."-Ichigo concluded seriously, while plopping down next to Nekozawa.

"And what do you mean by weird?"-asked Nekozawa softly.

"I've been doing and thinking things I don't usually do or think."

"Well, all young people do that. It's the hormones. It's only natural."-comforted Nekozawa.

"No. It's different."-Ichigo frowned.

"Somehow it's his fault."-he concluded grudgingly.

Nekozawa nodded lightly, and glanced at Ichigo slyly.

"Kurosaki-san."-he started, after a short break-"Tell me… about Grimmjow."

"Eh?" -Ichigo looked at him in bewilderment.-"Grimmjow? Why?"

"Just do it." -Nekozawa smiled gently –"Trust me."

Ichigo couldn't understand what Nekozawa was going on about, but he complied with the request.

"He's an annoying, arrogant and egocentric prick. And he's my enemy."-he concluded firmly.

Nekozawa shook his head. "Not like that, Ichigo. Try to forget that he's your enemy…"

Ichigo shot him a confused look.

"Let's start from beginning…"-said Nekozawa- "I'll ask you questions. Tell me everything in full detail! What does Grimmjow look like?"

Ichigo looked at him as if he has gone mad.

"What do you mean, what does he look like? You know…!"

"Yes, but pretend that I don't. OK? Now, tell me in full detail, please, what does Grimmjow look like?"

Ichigo blinked at the little old man a few times, and started.

"Grimmjow… His hair's blue."-he started stupidly.

"What shade?"-asked Nekozawa patiently.

"Shade?"-echoed Ichigo- "Shade…"

"Just take it easy. If you can't think of the way it's called, try remembering what has the same or similar shade."-Nekozawa encouraged him on.

"The sky!"- Ichigo fired out after some thought –"The sky is the same shade! Grimmjow's hair is the colour of the sky. And, just like the sky at different times of the day, his hair appears darker or lighter according to the light…"

"And his hairstyle's pretty retro."-he added. Nekozawa laughed at that.

"Retro?"-he repeated laughing –"Something like the '80s or…?"

"I suppose."-shrugged Ichigo –"Now that I think about it, the way he wears his Espada uniform is pretty retro too. But, I think it's more like those biker gangs back in the '50s or something. You know, like those two movies with Marlon Brando and James Dean*."

Nekozawa had to grip his stomach, because he was laughing too hard. Ichigo, on the other hand was rather confused by his reaction.

"It's kind of cool actually."-he commented earnestly.

"Of course. Sorry…"-Nekozawa toned down the laughing a bit; he was laughing because he, in fact, was dumbfounded by Ichigo's earnest and open description that somehow abounded in admiration of his enemy.

"I'm sorry."-he said- "Is there something else? His eyes, perhaps?"

"Umm."-Ichigo nodded. "Yeah. His eyes…"

He looked up a bit, automatically recalling all those little moments when those psychotically blue eyes seemed to penetrate into the very core of his heart. At those moments, he nearly caught himself trying to remember whether Grimmjow was a type of Hollow that could read other people's minds (if such type existed at all), because it sometimes seemed he was reading Ichigo as an open book. Of course it wasn't the case, but the fact that there was that feeling, made every look they shared seem that much interesting and exciting.

Ichigo shook his head to get a grip of himself.

"His eyes are blue."-he said vaguely, but in a tone that gave no chance to anybody to urge him on to talk about it.

Realising and accepting this, Nekozawa nodded, and made a slight pause. He was going to ask a really sensitive question.

"And…"-he started- "What about his body?"

Ichigo, completely unprepared for the question, felt that even his ears grew hot and red with embarrassment. He started shifting needlessly and slightly more dramatically then necessary to cover up his flaming face, pretending he was just shifting his sitting position.

"W-what about it?"-he tried to sound nonchalant, but he accidentally stuttered- "He's a man, that's for sure. He's really tall, and he has a Hollow hole in the middle of his a-abdomen. Next question."

Nekozawa offered a warm and reassuring smile. "That wasn't very detailed, was it?"

Ichigo snapped. "Well, it's not like I know his three sizes or something. Besides, I don't like to talk about other people's bodies. Next question!"

Nekozawa smiled widely at him.

"There's no next question."-he said. –"Judging by your answers and reactions, I think I know what your problem is."

Ichigo shot him a questioning glare.

"If you'd allow me…"-started Nekozawa silently- "Have you ever thought that you might like him?" He paused to study Ichigo's face.

Ichigo seemed confused or at least distressed about Nekozawa's words. He had to make sure he got it all wrong. He leaned in a bit.

"Like?"-he grimaced- "You mean… As in…"- He was a bit afraid to hear the answer.

"As in… Romantically."-nodded Nekozawa.

Ichigo wanted to say something, but was at loss of words… He could only stare wide-eyed around himself. His face was burning crimson.

"And, I think…"- Nekozawa leaned in a bit to make sure nobody but Ichigo could hear him whisper- "Maybe even physically."

Ichigo looked at Nekozawa.

"But! We're both guys! That's-"-he shot back immediately.

"Impossible?"-Nekozawa helped out. He gave Ichigo a look that clearly said they both know that statement was ridiculous.

"Well… If you're going to get defensive…"-he shrugged and got up slowly. –"Just think it through for a bit, OK?"

Ichigo stared at him in shock. Now he didn't know what to think, let alone say something.

Nekozawa took some of the sheets lying on the floor and he proceeded to put them to their place. He than spoke in his usual cheerful voice again:

"By the way, there's quite a bit of things I need to buy. Would you mind doing the shopping for me, please?"

"Huh?"-Ichigo took a few seconds to register what has been said to him. -"Ah, yeah! Sure." He was thankful to Nekozawa for changing the subject. There's no way he was in love with Grimmjow!

"Thank you very much!"-Nekozawa smiled- "The shopping list and the money are in the kitchen."

Ichigo tried to say something, but he was rudely interrupted.

"Oi, brat!"-Grimmjow burst into the room, denting the floor with his heavy boots. –"Get your ass out here! I ain't waiting for you forever!" He looked slightly different. Gone was his Hollow mask, as well as his white Espada uniform. Instead of it, he was all dressed in black leather. Instead of his bare torso showing, all the strength of his arms was revealed. Ichigo's heart flickered for a brief moment when he registered the sight. There's no way he was in love with Grimmjow!

"By the way"-Nekozawa joined in-"Grimmjow will be going with you."

He smiled his usual smile at Ichigo, and continued sorting the sheets.

* * *

So, in the next chapter, Grimmjow and Ichigo went shopping in Karakura... You're crazy if you think everything will be all right. XP

The dictionary:

*youkai - a supernatural being, a monster, an apparition

*noppera or noppera-bou - Japanese faceless ghost; The story I wrote here at the beginning is actually based (if not a complete part of it) on 'The Mujina of the Akasaka Road', a really well known and famous story from 'Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things';

*The movies Ichigo is referring to are 'Rebel Without a Cause' (James Dean) and 'The Wild One' (Marlon Brando); not exactly part of the dictionary, but I thought someone might be interested in the trivia.

Also, Ichigo gave us really wise words to live by: Don't mock K-Pop, someone might hear you.

K-Pop lovers, don't mind Grimmjow... He didn't mean it.

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After I update 'Arabesque' (also a GrimmIchi story), I promise to update this one!


	6. Chapter 6

Well, hello, darlings! Guess who's back with a new chapter? Yes, it is I!

So, as usual, there's a lot of nonsense here. Have I mentioned that I actually wanted to make this a serious fic? And I still do! Also, if I made dramatic grammar mistakes, forgive me. I recently found out I can't spell misspelled words.

Anyway, I've been sick lately. There's at least, half a month now... I still feel faint. And I'm getting sick of all the medicine...

**IMPORTANT NOTICE**: Since FFnet is being strict towards fans' imagination, I decided to offer two versions of chapters that might be "suspicious". The FFnet chapters (if it's necessary) will be censored, while the uncut version will be available on my Tumblr. Mind you, not all chapters will have their censored/uncut versions, so if a chapter like that comes across, I'll be sure to let you know, right here in these notes. Anyway, my Tumblr is: no6isroyalblue dot tumblr dot com. Aside with my fics, it has a lot of other stuff (un)related to our favourite pairing. :)

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CHAPTER 6: Shoujo manga knows it all!

There was no way he was in love with Grimmjow!

That was pretty much Kurosaki Ichigo's mantra for the time spent walking beside the bastard. Pretty much; because in order to justify his claims in front of an imaginary judge, he kept glancing every now and then in Grimmjow's direction, trying to prove how nothing related to that man had impact on him. The result was devastating.

Not only did his attempts sound more and more unconvincing, but he also started to notice Grimmjow's attributes much more then he wanted to. Especially the ones below the belt.

It wasn't very visible when he wore hakama*, but black worn-out jeans he was wearing now made it slightly difficult to miss. In all of his life, Ichigo hasn't seen a man who was so sensuous and full in flesh (yet so rough and wild) like Grimmjow. It seemed like a pretty big deal because nowadays everybody (even men) tried to look as skinny and doll-like as possible. Not to mention that, in addition to the above, a whole lot of people used the freedom of speech as an excuse to be whiney as much as they could.

All in all, Ichigo had to admit to himself, if there was anything admirable about Grimmjow, then it was his fierceness of character and the fact that he didn't allow people to mess around with him. He supposed that was one of the things they had in common.

But, no, he was not in love with Grimmjow!

IIIIIIIIIIIII

Ichigo was so concentrated on the fight inside of his head, that he was surprised they had arrived so quickly in Karakura. Grimmjow hasn't spoken a word to him during the walk, but the moment they got into the city, he grumbled:

"What's on the list?"

"Huh?" Ichigo stared stupidly at him; breaking out of his thoughts.

"The list."- Grimmjow repeated, irritated –"What's on the list? You have it, right?"

"Yeah…"-Ichigo trailed off taking out a big piece of paper, and scanning it briefly. –"There's quite a bit of things here..." He looked up at Grimmjow.

"By the way, why are you tagging along?"

"Whaddya mean by that?"- challenged Grimmjow, cutting across Ichigo's path and halting in front of him.

"Well, you don't seem like a person to have patience to go around shopping for groceries."-stated Ichigo matter-of-factly. He won't get challenged into a fight, he promised himself, and therefore he just continued to pass by the bastard.

"Maybe I don't have patience, but I've got the strength." Grimmjow hit the wall of the nearby building just in front of Ichigo's face, making him stop in his tracks. "Somebody has to carry the bags for you."-he smirked. Ichigo frowned at him.

"'Sides, I felt like changing the environment."-Grimmjow added seriously, pulling back.

Ichigo let out the breath he was holding. If he was even one centimetre further ahead the place he was standing when Grimmjow hit, he would've ended accidentally kissing the bastard's biceps. He shuddered at the thought.

"Where do we go from here?"-thought Grimmjow out loud, earning Ichigo's attention again.

"There's a lot of stuff to get, so I think a convenience store is the best option."

"Did I ask you anything?"-Grimmjow glared at him, and then concluded:-"I say we go to a convenience store."

Ichigo made a face. –"That's what I said."-he commented more to himself, thinking whether Grimmjow knew at all what a convenience store is.

"Anyway, the nearest store is that way."-he said pointing behind himself, which was exactly the opposite way Grimmjow was heading to.

"Che!"-Grimmjow turned around as coolly as he could.

It couldn't be more obvious that he had made a complete fool of himself; a truly hateful fact that was. It was in his best interest to get out of the situation as gracefully as possible. He won't be made a fool in front of (and by) Ichigo, of all people!

Therefore, he decided to act like nothing's happened, and to nonchalantly pass by Ichigo, with his face set in straightest possible manner. Of course, when he noticed that Ichigo's reaction to that was sporting the classic I'm-barely-suppressing-my-laughter grimace, the whole plan went down the toilet. Almost. He steeled himself into sticking with the original idea, and even managed to do it, but the consequences of it all included a vein viciously pulsating at his temple, as well as his face turning slightly pink with agitation. His chin was shaking with anger, and his hand twitched with eagerness to hit the damned brat on the head.

Touché!

This time Ichigo won, but Grimmjow would be damned if he didn't plan on settling the score.

IIIIIIIIIIIII

The convenience store is an interesting place. Aside with buying stuff, if there was something you had to have copied, you could have it copied at the store. Also, if you were hungry, you could take-away warm, cooked food. And most of the stores were opened 24/7.

Grimmjow, of course, could have cared less about any of that. He was too busy being angry at how stupid he looked a few minutes ago. To ease his irritation he had grabbed the list from Ichigo's hands and took charge of the shopping himself, which was relatively a stupid idea, because most of the time he couldn't connect the products and their package. Who in their right mind sells milk in cardboard boxes?! What if it spills? Regardless, he _did_ get by somehow, but he still muttered a couple of comments here and there and lost quite a bit of time on playing around with the wobbly bag of milk, thus earning a couple of weird looks from other shoppers. A couple, because most of them made sure not to make eye contact or get close to the "most likely a gang leader" person he was.

Ichigo, after watching the scene for a moment (and even giving a slight smile!), lost his attention to the books and magazines stand nearby. He picked up the first book that came within reach, and opened it at a random page. It turned out to be a shoujo manga, and the scene he opened was a heart-racing, romantic scene between the heroine –a Princess in a frilly dress- and her Prince.

'There's s-something… I-I always, always… wanted to tell you.'-stuttered the Princess, blushing ferociously, and looking away from the Prince. The Prince gently got hold of her hands, and placed his hand on her cheek, returning her gaze to his own eyes. He softly placed a finger over her lips.

'Don't.'-he spoke gently- 'I know. I've always known… I love you, too.'

'Oh, Prince!'-cried the Princess, and threw herself into the Prince's arms. They kissed, and accordingly, the Princesses' leg gently popped up in the air, making the whole scene complete.

"Ehh~?"- commented Ichigo silently- "Is love really like this?"

Out of nowhere, he imagined himself in the Princesses' frilly dress, throwing himself into (Prince) Grimmjow's arms, and kissing him, while his leg, just like the Princesses', popped up gently in the air, revealing his glass slippers. Almost instantly, he got an intense headache, and had to rub his eyes for a second. He blushed slightly, but he wouldn't have admitted it for the World.

'What the hell?'- he thought tiredly, placing the book back at the stand, and taking another one. He flipped it open at a random page.

And there was a very graphic and explicit love scene between two guys. The setting seemed to be in Feudal Japan, since both of them wore ('wore' being a relative term) kimono. They were both pretty manly and well-built. The uke was in a sort of half-sitting position, leaning on one of his arms; while the other was slung over the seme's shoulder. His back was arched and his head thrown back; his mouth was opened in a moan. One of the seme's arms was around the uke's waist. He was kissing his uke's neck.

Ichigo, upon opening this scene, instantly turned red like a ripest possible tomato, and dropped the book on the floor. He battled to make his mind think about absolutely nothing, but it constantly seemed to go back to the cursed image he envisioned a couple of seconds ago. Of course, the whole fiasco wouldn't have been so shocking if there wasn't that image. He saw himself as the uke, shamelessly twisting in his seme's lap, and he saw Grimmjow's arm around his waist and Grimmjow's mouth at his neck.

He shuddered and slapped himself across the face. He tried to repeat the entire times table, while simultaneously naming all the numbers of the Fibonacci sequence he could add together without the calculator. He did manage to calm down a bit, but now he had to pick up the book and place it on its rightful place on the stand. He tried to pick it up while not looking at it, but in the end he ended up stealing a glance at the cover. There were the two guys kissing, and the title read "Battlefield Romance"*.

''Romance', my ass!'-thought Ichigo angrily- 'This thing is straight-out pornography!'

"Ara! Kurosaki-san!"-Ichigo nearly jumped out of his own skin, when a familiar voice spoke really close to him- "I didn't know you were into yaoi manga. Weird hobby, isn't it? But, that would explain _a lot_…"

"Urahara!"-Ichigo spun around as fast as he could. He thought about finding an excuse for standing in the convenience store with a yaoi manga in his hands, but it all came out in splutters.

"Don't worry!"- Urahara flapped his fan in front of his face- "Your secret is safe with me." He grinned slyly.

"Let me see." –he took the manga from Ichigo's hands (who started blushing again) and looked at the cover.

"Popular series, though, isn't it?" He flipped a few pages, and looked at Ichigo from under his hat. "So, you like these more manly ones, do you?"

Ichigo spluttered at that. He felt his legs hurt just below his knees; an obvious sign of a person dying from embarrassment. Urahara closed the book and returned it to Ichigo.

"I wonder what Isshin would say if he knew." –he teased.

"No! You don't get it-!" –started Ichigo, finally finding his voice.

"You don't need to worry."-started Urahara in his sing-song voice- "Like I said, your secret is safe with me. In fact!" –he pulled out a bundle wrapped in a piece of fabric from his kimono, and shoved it into Ichigo's hands- "I just happened to have here something that could be of interest to you."

As he walked away he shouted back: "No need to thank me! You just have fun time reading!" The last sentence he accompanied by a knowing grin, and with it, he was out of sight.

For the first time in his life, Ichigo wanted to die. He felt like the entire store was staring at him, labelling him "the guy who reads yaoi manga". Of course, none of the above was true, but still.

"Who was the Hat 'n Sandals old guy?"- Grimmjow tuned in Ichigo's misery with his low baritone.

"Ah, Grimmjow!"- Ichigo completely forgot about him for a second.

"Wha'cha have there?" –Grimmjow motioned his head towards the things Ichigo was holding. Before Ichigo could come up with an excuse, he grabbed the Feudal Japan manga from Ichigo's hands and scanned the cover. He raised an eyebrow at Ichigo.

"Didn't know you were into guys. So, you a neko*?"

Ichigo grabbed the manga from Grimmjow's hands, and finally placed it back on the stand. Grimmjow's words confused him a bit.

"I'm not into guys! This thing just fell off the shelf, and I simply picked it up." –he explained along the way; he was glad he finally came up with a good excuse. He looked back at Grimmjow.

"Besides, what do you mean by neko*? Do I look like a cat to you?"

"Yes."-deadpanned Grimmjow.

Ichigo glared at him in confusion for a couple of seconds, and then rubbed his eyes.

"Never mind. Where's the list?"-he asked.

"You don't need it."-answered Grimmjow- "I've got everything that was on the list." He proceeded towards the cashier, and threw in another line: "While you were talking with the Hat 'n Sandals guy."

"Yeah, OK."- was all Ichigo said. This shopping adventure drained him better then any of his enemies. "I've got the money. I'll pay."-he added, taking the basket from Grimmjow's hands. Grimmjow obliged, and leaned on a wall somewhere in the corner to wait for him.

Ichigo didn't pay much attention to what the girl at the register was saying to him, so he just gave all the money he got from Nekozawa. Until…

"I'm sorry, sir. There seems to be not enough money." –she smiled her practised merchant smile; the apologetic version.

"Eh?"- Ichigo snapped out of his stupor- "Not enough…? But, that has to be a mistake."

"I'm sorry, sir."-the girl smiled her smile again- "I've already counted it twice. There's not enough money. I'm going to count it again."

Ichigo just nodded and blinked at her and the money. In the end, it showed that there really wasn't enough money.

"I'm sorry."-said the girl once more-"You could return some of the things. Otherwise, I'll have to call the boss."

"That's…"-Ichigo blinked at the money incredulously.

As if on mark, the boss came in. He was a short, plump old man, with just a bit of gray hair left on his head. He wore a gray suit.

"What seems to be the problem?"-asked he with a warm smile.

The girl explained the case to her boss, and he, too, suggested to return some of the stuff.

Ichigo was about to oblige, when Grimmjow leaned with one arm on the counter.

"Oi, listen up, old man. No one is gonna return anything. You hear?"

The boss started saying something, trying to reason with him, but Grimmjow just cut across him.

"Who asked ya anything, old man?!"

"Please!"-yelled the girl- "I'll call the police if you don't stop that."

Grimmjow gave her his scariest psychopathic-murderer grin, and said:

"Sure thing. Do that! I'll gladly kill all of you."

That caused a general hubbub among the three; the girl nearly fainted, the boss spluttered, and Ichigo grabbed Grimmjow by the hand.

"Grimmjow!"-he warned. Grimmjow just glanced at Ichigo, and yanked the boss by the shirt and pulled him in. The girl kept shouting and screaming something, and Ichigo gripped Grimmjow's hand tighter. The boss turned red from being strangled.

"Listen up. I've a nice suggestion you're going to like." –Grimmjow continued to grin like a mad man- "How about you pay our bill and I leave you and this joint in one piece? How does that sound? Ha?!"

Trying to loosen up Grimmjow's grip, as well as trying to keep his feet on the ground, the boss mumbled and coughed something that sounded like agreement.

"Good."-Grimmjow let him go. He grabbed the bags and walked towards the exit. All the customers were staring at him in shock. He probably left quite an impression, because nobody dared to breathe, let alone move or call the police.

And he turned around to all of them, with that classic psychopathic grin at his face, and said:

"You saw nothing. Understood?"

Everybody nodded warily.

"Good."-he rewarded them with the sexiest smirk they ever saw in their lives (Ichigo's knees nearly gave out at the sight), and went out.

Ichigo stared after him for a couple of seconds, the boss was fixing up his tie, and some schoolgirl commented so everyone could hear her:

"God, he's _sexy_."

That brought Ichigo out of his staring match with the doors. He turned towards the cashier girl and her boss, made a small bow and muttered an apology. The girl passed him the entire amount of the money he prepared to pay the bill. The bundle Urahara gave him was at the counter, too. It appears the fabric covering the content got slightly undone, because the girl, when she was passing the bundle, said to Ichigo:

"Your boyfriend's something else."

"Yeah, he is."-said Ichigo absently- "No! He's not my boyfriend!"- he snapped back, blushing.

"Sure."-the girl smiled at him.

With his eyebrow twitching, Ichigo left the store hoping the whole Karakura Town won't by the end of the day think that Grimmjow's his boyfriend. Surely, Urahara, didn't see him?

In front of the store, Grimmjow was waiting with the bags at his feet. When Ichigo saw him he caught himself praying that their way back to Nekozawa's won't be as crazy as this little shopping adventure.

* * *

You wish, Ichigo, you wish! XP

The Words and important notes:

*hakama - you should already know this, but still; type of traditional Japanese clothing (pants); the pants all the Arrancar and Shinigami wear.

*neko - a cat; however, in Japanese slang, "neko" is a guy who bottoms a.k.a. "uke"; try to imagine this conversation in Japanese; Grimmjow asked Ichigo whether he's an 'uke', while Ichigo understood it as 'cat' (animal); when Ichigo asked if he looks like a cat (animal), Grimmjow aswered 'yes' (as in 'you're an uke'); and just so you don't strangle me "for making Ichigo weak", I'll add what Grimmjow basically said: You're an uke to me. Relativity! Know it!

*"Battlefield Romance" and the shoujo manga; THEY'RE NOT REAL MANGAS! I invented them for the purpose of this fic. The title "Battlefield Romance" is a parody on some really bad shoujo manga titles, because you know there are those kind of titles. Any similarity with any other anime/manga work is purely coincidental! :D

While I was writing the scene at the register (Grimmjow and his torture of innocent merchants), and all the way to the comment of that one schoolgirl, I was listening to Billy Idol. XP Old time rock music reminds me of old biker movies, and that gets me into rebellious mode, so if Grimmjow is too cool or over-the-top (and when he isn't?)(but to some Ichigo is then automatically weak), forgive me. My inner biker-gang-member went overboard. I really hope I haven't make them too OOC. :/

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

You're gonna love me for this... Guess who's back with a new chapter! I'm still in a pinch with all the stuff I have to do for school, but I took some time to finish this. I hope you like it.

This chapter is pretty much a half of what I've planned for this chapter, but I didn't want to bother you with an overly long chapter nor I wanted to keep you waiting. Now, it's sounds like I'm doing this just for publicity, but I assure you - I enjoy and love writing AND GrimmIchi. And when I look back (a.k.a. forward into the plot), I think the fact that I stopped this here is a wise decision. Trust me - the plot thickens...

I also wish to thank all the people who enjoyed this story, as well as people who still follow it, and of course, all those who have commented.

**Bobb**, I don't know you - but you're amazing! Your comments really made my day. I actually like to read them whenever I'm sad. Hope that's not too weird.

* * *

CHAPTER 7: No use crying over spilt milk

„Kurosaki?" – Ishida looked in bewilderment at the store's automatic door. He was standing next to the pasta counter.

"And...Who is the other guy?"-he asked himself. "Seems like Kurosaki's gotten himself involved with some really bad guys..."-he trailed off.

Ishida busied himself with the wide variety of noodles in front of him.

'Should I be worried?' –he thought –'He had told us he'd be training, but here he is now... Was it all a lie? No. I mustn't jump into conclusions.'-he shook his head.

Placing down a pack of spaghetti and udon* noodles he continued towards the gravies and sauces.

'Whatever it is, it's none of my business.'-thought he, pushing up his glasses. 'I should just leave it be...'

He started scanning through the various soya sauces available.

'Just don't do anything stupid, Kurosaki!'-he prayed.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

A few meters outside the shop, in which Ishida was browsing for his dinner, Ichigo was walking towards Grimmjow like a convict towards an executioner. He felt like the every person who walked pass him and Grimmjow threw them a look, then came closer to his or her respective friend, whispering: "Those two are boyfriends, you know?"

Of course, it was just Ichigo's imagination, and he knew that very well, but he still couldn't cut loose from the feeling.

And Grimmjow's expression, which Ichigo had the chance of seeing in the midst of deciding of who's gonna carry which bag, only amplified his irritation. It was Grimmjow's usual expression, mind you! (Although, it was the 'Good Mood' variant) But, when Ichigo looked at him, it appeared to him that Grimmjow was giving him this cocky smile, as if he was mocking him, knowing exactly what Ichigo was thinking. Heavens only know why Ichigo decided to interpret it as such, but he immediately replied with an ugly look of his own.

He blamed Grimmjow for all the weird situations he found himself in, as well as all those weird and upsetting feelings he felt since that day when they first slept together.

Suddenly, Ichigo realised how wrong his last thought sounded, and started mentally justifying himself, trying to completely ignore that part of his brain that piped in with the fact that there was this psychological theory stating that there was no such things like non-intentional mistakes.

Completely oblivious to the fact that the boy was currently in a state of hard and important thinking, Grimmjow only noticed that look sent in his direction, and he immediately got angry. His eyes narrowed and he was about to spit out a challenge when he got distracted.

It was a matter of skill and hunch; no matter how hard he got angry these days, there was this nagging feeling in him that urged him to always be aware of his surroundings. And it proved to be rewarding. The humans around him were acting weird. Grimmjow furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at them. Ichigo noticed the change of focus in Grimmjow's attention, and followed his look.

A couple passed by them, going into the direction where everyone was headed.

"What happened?"-they heard the worried girl say.

"I don't know."-said her boyfriend- "There appears to be an accident of some sort."

"There's an ambulance!"-another person shouted.

"The police are there, too."-somebody said.

"My God! Did somebody get hurt?"-an old lady asked.

Without even looking at each other, Ichigo and Grimmjow simultaneously started following the crowd.

The people gathered around the yellow 'KEEP OUT' tape, trying to steal a glance over the policemen who tried their best to keep everything in order and people far from the crime scene.

"How terrible! Somebody was killed!" –Ichigo heard one housewife say as he neared the crowd. He placed the bags he was carrying next to his feet, and stretched his neck as much as he could to try and see something.

The ambulance's staff was at that moment carrying somebody covered with white sheet into the van. Somewhere in the middle, a big red stain was spreading over the white sheet.

When Ichigo laid his eyes on it, a sudden downpour of fear glued his feet firmly to the ground.

The eyes were looking at him.

'Here it is again!' –he thought.

Cold sweat ran down his face. He felt like he wanted to scream, but his jaws were clenched tightly, as if an iron hand was holding them together, therefore rendering him mute. His legs couldn't even shake, although they felt like shaking. The fear grew stronger inside him, and he felt that if he only could scream, ask for help, the fear would be gone. But, he couldn't move a muscle, although every inch of his body was dying to be moved, and hurting like a thousand scorching knives, as if lamenting its inability to move.

'Help me!'-he shouted inwardly, and almost unintentionally.

All the people around him acted normally. Nobody paid attention to him. Nobody saw he needed their help.

'HELP ME!'-he shouted inside. But, they couldn't hear his voice.

He was barely able to breathe. The fear was strangling him. Black spots started appearing in his vision. The pictures got blurry, and colours dim. The sounds grew far away, like a memory of sea's waves and children's voices in December. His heart threatened to stop, and the eyes were smiling at him. They were waiting to devour him…

Then, Grimmjow spoke.

"I don't like this."-his baritone mumbled very close to Ichigo.

In that moment, all the fear Ichigo felt burst like a soup bubble and disappeared. He shivered and took a deep breath, wheezing in panic for oxygen.

"What the hell's wrong with you?"-asked Grimmjow without a trace of actual concern.

Ichigo felt like he could actually hug the bastard. Luckily, he restrained himself, and spared himself detailed explanation. He bent over, placing his hands on his knees, planning to breathe himself stupid. He felt like he had just finished running a marathon. His legs were shaking almost happily.

"Nothing."-he shot a thankful look to Grimmjow (which confused the other greatly) –"Just keep talking." He offered a light smile, which confused and bewildered Grimmjow even more.

Grimmjow was looking at him for a couple of seconds, as if trying to decide whether Ichigo has gone crazy or not. He then turned his head to face the front again.

"I said I don't like it."

Ichigo straightened up.

"What?"

Grimmjow shot him a look sideways.

"Aren't you a Shinigami? Last time I checked the Shinigami were able to feel Reiatsu."

Ichigo flinched at the remark.

"Well, sorry 'bout that, but I'm not very good with sensing Reiatsu."-he growled.

He heard Grimmjow mutter something that sounded like 'And this guy defeated _me_?' under his breath, but decided to let it slide. Instead, he concentrated on the crime scene. The doctors were now shutting the back doors of the van. Funny enough, Ichigo's fit of fear didn't last longer than a couple of seconds, although it felt like hours to him. Later on, at times when he tried to remember, it felt like an old nightmare.

"Now that you mention it, I think I can feel a bit of leftover Reiatsu..."-he spoke- "Is it a Hollow?"

Grimmjow let out that classic 'che' sound of his and gave Ichigo a look that was a mix of irritation and wonder.

"No, it's not a Hollow." –he said while facing the crime scene again. This time, he couldn't resist it, so he slapped Ichigo over the back of his head. –"Even an idiot could see that."

Ichigo rubbed the painful spot at his head. He would love nothing more than to return that to Grimmjow. Instead, he let it slide and asked:

"So, if it's not a Hollow, what is it?"

"It's nothing we've seen before, and that's why I don't like it."-Grimmjow growled.

Ichigo watched the crowd slowly leaving as the doctors started the vehicle and drove away.

"How can you be so sure?"-he asked Grimmjow.-"It could be a human with special abilities."

"No, it's not human."-Grimmjow said slowly- "I can smell the blood from here."

"Seriously?"-said Ichigo stupidly, looking at Grimmjow. –"How comes? Is your sense of smell really that good?"-he asked almost good-naturedly.

Grimmjow slapped Ichigo over the back of his head again.

"Yes. In the case you've forgotten, I'm not human. All of my senses are better than yours." He made sure to emphasize the last sentence.

Ichigo rubbed his head again. He followed Grimmjow's stare, which was fixated on the blood stains that could be seen on the pavement.

"There's too much blood."-Grimmjow continued seriously- "Whatever it was, it gutted him. I can smell the organs rotting. The now dead guy didn't stand a chance."

"Gutted him?"- Ichigo repeated silently, furrowing his eyebrows.-"But, that doesn't mean it couldn't have been a human. Jack the Ripper gutted people, too. (Although, we can't say Jack the Ripper was human, because he's never been caught, but still...) It could have been anybody."

"Yes, but if it was a human, or anybody else who possessed a blade of some sort, the blood would've been splattered differently. This is a work of a beast. Whatever attacked this guy, had ripped, and not cut him."-Grimmjow said, getting even more irritated.

"Wow. I can't believe you're actually able to deduct stuff."-was Ichigo's witty retort.

Grimmjow's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm not trying to look smart. I've been on the battlefield for centuries. I've seen stuff like this countless times; hence I know it from experience."

Ichigo shuddered. There was that word. "Battlefield". As in "Battlefield Romance".

He momentarily felt disgusted with himself. A guy died, and some dangerous beast is loose (if it's alright to believe Grimmjow's deduction), and he was thinking about some yaoi manga. Doesn't get any more selfish then that.

He shook his head.

"OK. So, it's a beast..."-Ichigo made an awkward pause, giving Grimmjow a long stare.

"Yes, it's a beast."-Grimmjow growled angrily; it appeared to him that Ichigo didn't believe him- "And possibly something even worse."

Ichigo frowned.

"Worse?"

"Yeah... "- Grimmjow picked up the bags and started going back to Nekozawa's.

"Although it might sound weird, but the way that guy rotted – it didn't smell right."

Ichigo frowned at Grimmjow's back, then he picked up his bags and started after him. Whatever the thing was, it was a bit disconcerting to know that it's not afraid to kill in the middle of the day.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

The rest of their way to Nekozawa's passed peacefully. They didn't bother to talk to each other, and both of them were pretty much satisfied with that.

The forest path would on any other day be something that would cause Ichigo to fidget when walking next to Grimmjow simply because he saw it as too romantic. But, the birds that were singing in the trees were now of comfort to him, because it seemed as if their song meant that nothing is wrong and that nothing bad will happen. This road was a bad reminder, because it was exactly on this road that he first felt the look of those horrible eyes.

And he was actually glad that Grimmjow was next to him. (In the back of his mind, he noted that Grimmjow was still slightly limping from the wounds of their last training session.)

He had a weird feeling he suddenly developed a great affection for that man's voice, and it slightly bothered him. In the next moment, however, he had a sudden urge to hear him speak. So, he tried to start the conversation.

"Lovely weather we're having today!"

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted. That was just the fakest of fake things he's ever done in his life! Even his tone came out too high-pitched and overly-happy. And the most mortifying thing was that he knew that Grimmjow noticed his idiocy and would most definitely use it against him. And there it was.

"You scared?"-drawled Grimmjow, sadistically happy he got a chance to tease Ichigo.

"I'd hold your hand, but my own hands are currently busy."

Ichigo turned red like a Christmas tree decoration, and muttered:

"Shut up."

And that was pretty much the end of that conversation.

After that, the rest of the way to Nekozawa's, Ichigo didn't have to worry about any kind of monsters, because the line "I'd hold your hand" kept repeating itself in his head like an unstoppable broken record.

IIIIIIIIIIIIII

When they finally arrived to the temple, one of the mysteries of today's day solved itself right before Ichigo's eyes.

Seeing Grimmjow sitting on the porch playing around with the wobbly bag of milk, led Ichigo to asking himself certain questions, such as whether the wobbly bag of milk was on the shopping list. When the idea finally struck him, he rushed to quickly compare the things that they "bought" (a.k.a. thanks to Grimmjow, got free of charge) and the things on the list, only to come to the conclusion he already knew was true – they definitely brought home much more things then there was on the list.

Hoping it would prove him wrong, although he knew it wouldn't – he decided to ask Grimmjow about it.

So, in hopes to do it smoothly, he sat next to Grimmjow on the porch.

"Umm..."-he started- "May I ask you something, Grimmjow?"-he tried to be polite. His usual frown didn't help him with that, though.

Grimmjow replied without even looking at Ichigo:

"If it's about the beast, don't. " - He tossed the bag of milk a few centimetres away from himself and lay down, closing his eyes. – "I had enough of it for today."

"No, actually..." – Ichigo frowned at the milk – "Back in the convenience store, you did take everything that was on the list?"

Grimmjow peaked at Ichigo.

"'f course I did."- he mumbled.

"Then what about that bag of milk? Was that on the list, too?" – asked Ichigo slightly irritated.

Grimmjow glanced at the milk, and then focused his look on Ichigo.

"I might have taken some stuff that wasn't on the list."-he replied coolly.

"You might have?!" –shouted Ichigo incredulously. "It doesn't matter." – he sighed, rubbing his eyes. Lecturing Grimmjow or arguing with him was a job as efficient as trying to make a river flow from its delta to its spring. But, of course, Kurosaki Ichigo wouldn't be Kurosaki Ichigo if he didn't attempt to do the impossible. Even for a little bit, even just once.

"Well, "- he huffed – "at least, you could try to handle stuff with more care. If you break or spill stuff, you'll have to clean the mess up yourself."

And with that, he stretched over Grimmjow to get the bag of milk.

That was probably the moment in Grimmjow's entire existence where he paid more attention than ever. The weather was hot and he was attempting a nap a couple of minutes ago, so he was kind of groggy, and as the result of that he didn't think as clearly as he usually does. But, his mind was crystal clear when it came to noticing all the attributes of Ichigo's outstretched body. The boy's shirt was too short for him, but it still had to follow the laws of physics, which in case of human clothing state that shirts, especially when there isn't enough fabric in them to cover up the human, cling more to the shoulders and chest, then to hips and bellies. So according to that law, when Ichigo stretched over Grimmjow, his shirt followed suit and left a nice, bare portion of Ichigo's torso for Grimmjow to behold. And did he behold!

He was feigning closed eyes, while in fact he, albeit peaking, was inspecting the view with great interest. Aside with Ichigo's skin, his behind was very interesting to Grimmjow. Because Ichigo positioned himself so, and because he wore tight jeans, it was kinda hard to miss.

'Damn that peach ass...'- Grimmjow licked his lips – 'It's so round...'

Before he got to even try to listen to his sleepy voice of reason, Grimmjow slapped Ichigo's rear as hard as he could. The boy, naturally, yelped and hurriedly stood up.

'Oh, shit. I did not just do that.' – Grimmjow thought, mortified.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" – Ichigo yelled, red in face with embarrassment. Grimmjow tried his best to cover up his crime, so he played his usual 'pissed and annoyed' card.

"Shut up, Shinigami. You deserved it. Do I look like a log, so you can jump over me as you see fit? I should've hit you harder." He exaggerated a bit, but it was alright as far as he's concerned. His tactic seemed to be working; Ichigo was standing silently at his spot, giving Grimmjow angry looks and rubbing his behind.

"You're impossible." –he muttered, and stomped around Grimmjow to pick up the cursed object known as the bag of milk. When he lifted it up, the milk started leaking out, all over the floor.

"Ack!"

It would really be the crowning moment of this entire ordeal, but Grimmjow had to rub more salt into the wound:

"Ou!" –Ichigo could hear his mocking voice coming from behind - "You'll have to clear up your mess, Shinigami."

That was the last drop. Ichigo threw the bag at the floor, and aimed one nice kick to Grimmjow's side before he went to get something to clean up all the used milk with.

Grimmjow watched Ichigo go away, while rubbing at the spot that got to feel the kick.

'That went fairly well.' –he thought.

When he lost Ichigo from the sight, he lay down again.

'My sadism will be the death of me.' –Grimmjow concluded, closing his eyes to have another go at that nap from before.

* * *

Le Dictionnaire:

*udon - is a type of thick wheat-flour noodle of Japanese cuisine

Ijou desu!


End file.
